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You want to cut all your own ties??!! Sounds like some kind of masochistic thing I would try. In fact, I had thought of making them out of twigs to simulate the ties on a early 1870's low budget logging railroad. Then the realization of time it would take set in and I decided to buy precuts. Well more power to you John! Pre-cut ties are usually made of sugar pine. It should be a soft wood so the ties won't split when spiking them. As for the roadbed, I think foam would be awkward to spike track on. It would crush downward and be difficult to keep the rail in gage. Also the roadbed should also hold the spikes to keep the track in place. There is no doubt foam will not hold spikes. Then there is cork. It's arguable that cork will hold spikes. I have read it will and won't. I have done a small amount of hand laying rail so I'm not an expert. I have done quite a bit of research on the subject. Apparently the most common roadbed used today for hand laying rail is Homasote. Pine and/or Upson board was favored before Homasote caught on. Milled pine and Upson board roadbed is still around but is very expensive and not easy to get. Tru-Scale and Ribbonrail are two brands that Walthers sells. However, the Tru-Scale roadbed is out of stock, but they do have some from Ribbonrail [url]http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/170-9010[/url]. Homasote is the best choice because of its sound deadening quality and ability to hold spikes. It's readily available too. I highly recommended that Homabed be sealed before installing it. Here is a link to a posting of the subject of roadbed for hand laying rail from a couple weeks ago [url]http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=30657[/url]
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