As I was building my layout I realized later that I made my flex-track curves too tight and I need to "correct" it.
Is there any good way to remove cork roadbed and the track sections without too much damage.
I used clear adhesive calk to secure it. I am in N scale.
Please don't tell this dummy - "Dummy"
Thanks
Andy
Well, if you didn't go overboard with the caulk, you should be able to pry it loose with a putty knife. Gently slide the knife between the track and roadbed and it should pop right off. Don't lift up too hard, you will kink the rails. As for removing the cork, it depends on what you attached it to. If it's plywood, you might be able to do the same thing once the track's off. If you used foam, you'll probbaly pull up a bit of the foam as well, and you won't be able to reuse the cork. I had to pull up some of my HO track and roadbed because I changed my mind about a siding. The track I was able to reuse, but the Woodland Scenics foam roadbed on foam insulation board I wan't.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Hi!
You can probaly save the track, but forget about the roadbed. Get a 1 inch chisel - bevel side down - and you can probably clear it fairly easily.
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Andy,
I used latex caulk on WS foam road bed. To get the track up I put wet paper towels on the track and got the roadbed pretty wet and let it soak for a while. Then I used a putty knife to slip underneath and pry it up. With cork it should come up easier. So far I haven't had to remove the roadbed from the base. That may be your real problem.
If you haven't done anything worse that this consider yourself an expert.
Bob
Don't Ever Give Up
Hands up everyone who has done something like this. It's called learning. I had to re-lay some N scale track recently because I did the curve wrong. The second time around I used my really big compass, which I should have done in the first place. Like someone said, if you used a bare minimum of caulk and spread it thin, you will be able to remove the track with a flexible puttly knife blade. Work carefully and just nudge the blade under the ties. Clean off any bits of caulk clinging to the ties. If you put the cork on plywood, you may be able to salvage it the same way, but don't expect too much. Any caulk clinging to the bottom of the cork will be difficult to remove and will make bumps in the roadbed if you try to use it again. My cork was caulked to painted extruded foam. The cork and the caulk and the layer of paint were inseparable and came off together along with some of the foam. That went into the garbage and the foam had to be patched.
..... Bob
Beam me up, Scotty, there's no intelligent life down here. (Captain Kirk)
I reject your reality and substitute my own. (Adam Savage)
Resistance is not futile--it is voltage divided by current.
Yes, I've had the same experience... and roadbed attached with adhesive caulk generally is not worth the effort to save. Because of this, I now use brads (or a nail gun if I'm doing a lot) to attach my road bed (to plywood).
I think we are begininning to see the down-side of this new model railroading "best practice". As versus the good old days when you secured your track in place with nails. Remove the nails, soak the ballast to soften the glue, and you could usually get your track back in decent shape. The roadbed, not so much so. Now with everything glued in place, I really don't think the chisel solution is going to work, especially with flex track.
But I wish you luck.
I have figured out what is wrong with my brain! On the left side nothing works right, and on the right side there is nothing left!
I think it depends on if you actually do it 'right' or not. I've had no problem saving the track glued down with latex caulk - because I use a VERY small amount. If you cake it on so that it pushes up between the ties and such, I can imagine it would be a lot of work to be able to reuse that track, if at all. Of course once you've ballasted the track, it's going to be a lot of work no matter what to clean it up - probably a bit easier if white glue was used as the binder rather than matte medium, as I suspect white glue dissolves easier in water.
Of course there was always nailing track and roadbed on homasote. That you could peel off with no tools at all. Hold spikes?!?!?! Not homasote.