Homasote for roadbed question

[gtcr98]

I know Homasote has been used for roadbed for decades. Once installed on a layout it needs to be sanded smooth due to undulations in it's surface. My question is, could you cut the Homasote into strips and then run them through a suface planer to get a uniform thickness before installation. Gary Taylor

[Anonymous]

Homasote is not going to act like wood going through a planer. All you will end up with is a gray Christmas[swg]

[PennsyHoosier]

oooohhhh, that would make a big mess!

[Anonymous]

probably gum up your planer

[ericboone]

I was a member of a climb that hand-laid track directly on un-planed homasote and we had no problems. The only area to watch out for is the gaps from one piece to another.

One option is to use Homabed. They've already planed the homasote for you. If you don't mind building up the slope of the ballast along side the track with caulk or plaster, get the unbeveled version. You can get away with using one strip instead of two parallel strips and get twice as much roadbed length for the same cost. (Homabed in HO scale comes like cork roadbed.) One unbeveled strip is about 1 inch wide, about the width of HO scale ties.

I am thinking about using the blueboard foam construction as described by Bill Darnaby and used on his Maumee Route. I would simple make a trench with a hot wire cutter for the single strip of Homabed roadbed. The ballast slope would be cut in the foam as described by Mr. Darnaby.