Anyone Use Woodland Scenics Track-Bed?

[Anonymous]

I'm building a 4x8 HO layout for my two sons to enjoy while I get the basement finished so I can build a larger Sn3 layout. I'm using this layout to use up some materials I've had kicking around a while.

One of those things is some Woodland Scenics track-bed I picked up for cheap when a hobby shop was closing out their model railroading inventory.

My question is, what should I use to adhere it to the homosote under neath? Woodland Scenics sells a special glue for this purpose, but I'm just wondering if anyone else has had good experience with some other type of glue.

Any other tips on working with this stuff would also be welcome.

Happy Holidays,

John Haas
Underhill, VT

[Anonymous]

50-50 mixture of Elmers white glue and water works well. If you make a mistake just use some water to soften to glue and it will come right up
Andrew

[RMax1]

Ditto. That and the track nails holds mine in place. Good stuff and easy to work with.

RMax

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys, I figured something I had around the house here would do the job. I got plenty of Elmers, and even more water, as long as the pipes don't freeze...

Take care,

John

[Anonymous]

Well here is my opinin on the woodland Scenics roadbed and glue. I used both on my layout. I really do like the tack glue because it dries srong and much faster than elmers glue. In fact I would glue about 5 feet or more of track down at a time and withing 30 minutes i was moving on to the next section or laying track. Its pretty good. Though it is damn expensive. $10 a bottle and I bought only two so far. Now as for the WS roadbed it is OK but I wish I used cork roadbed throughout my whole layout instead of my litle addition. It runs so much smoother with cork roadbed. Well good luck with that anyway :)

[Anonymous]

PARKERLEGEND - how do you mean it runs smoother w/ cork? Does the rolling stock seem to wobble more on the foam roadbed? More derailments? Louder? I'm just curious what you mean so I can decide if I want to abandon the WS foam idea.

The problem with the WS foam glue is availability. I don't know of anywhere around here (Northern Vermont) that stocks it, so I'd have to mail order it. Elmers glue would obviously be more available.

I do know of a toy and hobby shop nearby that stocks cork roadbed, so for the 30 to 40 feet of track I'm talking about, I wouldn't be a big deal to get the cork instead.

Thanks for sharing your opinions - I appreciate it.

John

[Anonymous]

I use latex adhesive chalk to glue the roadbed down. Available at any hardware store, is fairly cheap, holds great, but comes up easy if you have to reposition anything. I also use it to glue the track down to the roadbed.

[rrinker]

I WAS gong to use cork, just like all my previous layouts (ok, if you only count the ones I built MYSELF, 5 previously over the past 25 years ), until I picked up some of the WS Track Bed to try. I was sold.
I use the latex caulk method as well - super fast and a little more sound isolation than something that dried hard like Elmer's glue. I got a tube of the cheapest latex adhesive caulk I could find at Home Depot, some sort of brand called "Polysealer" or "Polyseamer" or something like that, it says "Adhesive Caulk" on the tube, PLUS it dries clear. It was about a buck less than the equivalent DAP, although at the rate I'm using this stuff it doesn't matter. I have down so far about 48 feet of Track-Bed plus 9 feet of flex track and haven't used even 1/4 of the tube yet!
It will stick to homosote just fine, although I am using extruded foam. And after all this, I will NEVER go back to nails and plywood EVER. It's kind of like having the right tool for the job, it makes the results better WITH less effort.

--Randy

[scole100]

I have used both cork and the woodland scenics track bed. The woodland scenics is the far better product. It requires no cleanup to use. It does not react to humidity and is easier to use in the 25 foot rolls on those long model railroad curves. Also the best way I have found to hold it all down is the clear acrylic caulk. A word of caution though. Make SURE it is not silicone caulk. I used the wrong stuff once. Once that stuff dries it is forever a problem to cover up.

[Anonymous]

OK what I meant about the cork roadbed runs smoother is that when my trains hit that section I have in cork reoadbed it gets much quieter than when they were on the WS roadbed. See I was kinda scared to try the Cork roadbed because it loked a but harder with having to rip them apart then lay them perfectly. When I compared that job to the WS being in a roll and very very easy to do I gave in to the easy way. Dont get me wrong now, the WS roadbed is all good, but I wish I would have stuck it out and tried the "harde way" which was not that hard at all after I ran out of WS foam bed one night and I had a box of cork so I said I will give it a try. It just came out better IMHO. WS foam roadbed is still a good product though because It is easy to use, and one thing which I found to be cool is I shave the sides off after the track is down and it makes it a nice way to add the Ballast. If you kep the sides on it is wider so it takes more Ballast to cover it up and not only that the ballast is so wide. It does not need to be so wide so you cut the sides off to the track and when you lay the ballast it looks more realistic. Try it

Good luck

[rrinker]

Guess it depends on your subroadbed. I use extruded foam, and comparing the two side by side, the WS is definitely quieter.
However, the WS I put on with white glus is not nearly as quiet as that I put on with caulk. The glue dries hard, and transmits sound. The caulk never gets rock hard and has some 'give' to it, which helps keep it even quieter. Running nails through it into the wood below, well, that would REALLY transmit sound.

--Randy

[twhite]

I've got WS track bed on extruded foam, and am very satisfied with the results. The only thing I would caution about is that since the WS is VERY resiliant, is that you make sure that your track joiners are really tight, as the slight motion transmitted through the roadbed will loosen them much faster than using cork. I've soldered all of my track joints, used feeders and that's cured the problem quite well. I used Elmer's to tack the roadbed down, and have little or no noise problem. I really like the product.
Tom

[Anonymous]

Thanks again, guys, for the replies.

On the way home tonight I stopped at True Value and picked up a tube of the "Polyseamer" stuff Randy mentioned. I don't remember the name either, and I just bought it! ...and I'm too lazy to go back down the basement now and look at the tube. Luck was on my side - I got the last tube they had!

Anyway, I just got done putting down about 10 two-foot pieces of the WS roadbed using the adhesive caulk. You guys were right - it IS pretty easy to do. I was surprised to find out I didn't need to tack down the roadbed. The caulk held it in place right on contact.

As for ParkerLegend's comment about cutting the edges off the roadbed after the track is on it - I'm actually using N scale roadbed on an HO scale layout, so the effect is the same. The outside of the ties comes right to the edge of the roadbed. I assume the N scale roadbed is thinner too, which is more to my liking, since I'm not really after the "Class I Railroad" look here - I'm more into the shortline look. Well, actually what I'm "into" is narrow gauge, but that's another subject.

Thanks again guys!

John

[rrinker]

Hey that's great to hear about the N scale WS with HO track - I want to use N scale roadbed for sidings, so they are lower than the main lines. N scale cork UNSPLIT just matches the tie width of Atlas code 83 flex, so I was thinking the WS N scale track-bed would be a bit too narrow since it's already sloped. So I was just going to use cork for the sidings, or cut down the N scale track-bed sheets as needed. But if HO track fits as-is, GREAT! That will save me a lot of trouble,

--Randy