Cork Roadbed - What Width ?

[bagman]

I'm planning to make my own roadbed with cork sheeting.

Any idea what width for HO scale ?

I was thinking making the roadbed using 2 pieces 3/4" wide, making a total roadbed width of 1 1/2 inches. Would that be reasonable keeping in mind I will need to leave some room on either side of the trackwork for the beginning of the ballast profile.

 

Appreciate your advice

 

[canazar]

Well, that standard stuff is around 2" wide with the outer taper.   The track is aclose to 1 1/8th inch.   I think it work well..  Maybe a but more ballest on the edges, but you would have more control if you wanted to model smaller road beds

[loathar]

My Mid West cork roadbed is about 2 and 1/8" wide.

[CSXDixieLine]

I am about to lay track on my N-scale layout and have the same question--how wide should the cork roadbed be? I am using laminated spline subroadbed, which is constructed of seven splines--each with a thickness of 1/8"--so the total width is just about 7/8". The width of the N-scale track is 5/8", so when I center a piece of track on the spline roadbed it covers 5 of the splines perfectly with one uncovered spline on each side.

I want cork roadbed on top of the splines to elevate the track (the top of the splines can be considered "ground level"). I took a piece of Midwest N-scale cork roadbed, tore the halves apart and laid it down on top of the spline subroadbed. The cork is about 1 1/4" wide and overhangs the spline roadbed considerably. Plus, when I center a piece of flextrack on the cork, the space from the edge of the ties to where the cork strats to slope down is about 1/8" of an inch. This seems way too wide when I compare to prototype photos. In most cases, the ballast seems to slope down immediately outside of the ties. So it would seem I need to narrow down the cork roadbed accordingly to bring the sloping edges in to be even with the outside edges of the ties.

Am I correct in this thinking? The track almost looks way too small when I set it on the cork roadbed, which in turn seems way too wide. If I do this I will probably cut a 1/4" wide strip out of the middle of the cork strips and move them closer together. Anyone done this before?

Thanks, Jamie

[bsteel4065]

Hi bagman

I use 1 1/4" (for HO). I then sand it to make sure of a level and eased surface. I also bevel the edges with a sander. The edges are out enough to support the ties but not too much where you are forced to have too much ballast. The bevelled edges are enought to support the edge ballast which then can be as close or as far out as you want it to be.    

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Barry