Benchwork Materials

[Anonymous]

I am building my first layout. My old train book that has the bench plans says to use a sheet of 1/2" Homosote wallboard or a 3/16" sheet of Upsom board. That way I can use a cheaper grade of plywood and I can put track directly on the Homosote/Upsom instead of putting down a cork track bed.

First off, is that advisable? For some reason I am avoiding the snap together raised track that comes with most the kits now days. I can't say why, for sure. Maybe it seems like cheating, or more like a toy train vice model train. So, am I insane for not going with the easy snap together track and is it okay to put down track on the Homosote/Upsom board vice making a track bed?

Next, what is Homosote wallboard or Upsom board called now days? Home Depot has never heard of the stuff. Does it still exist? Is there a suitable substitute that will let me do the same thing?

Thanks in Advance!

Jim

[Hawks05]

i'm building my first layout as well and i'm going to use homosote. its kind of like cardboard almost i think. seems like that. has little squares in it i think. hard to describe. but thats what my friend has and says it works great so i'll use that.

[vsmith]

My layout is a 1/4" plywood sheet over 1 x framing, but I have no depressions planned for the plywood area so it works for me, The plywood takes alot of weight that the foam might not, I'm doing large scale so some locos can weigh in at 9 pounds! Need SOLID support!

[Anonymous]

Where do you find the Homosote?

QUOTE: Originally posted by Hawks05

i'm building my first layout as well and i'm going to use homosote. its kind of like cardboard almost i think. seems like that. has little squares in it i think. hard to describe. but thats what my friend has and says it works great so i'll use that.

[IRONROOSTER]

Try a different building supplier for Homasote. If you read through some of the older threads, you'll find some people love it and others think it is nothing but trouble. The issue generally revolves around changes due to humidity with some saying it changes more than wood, others say it changes less. But just like wood, you should let it adjust to your environment before you use it. Plywood is probably the way to go if humidity / stability is an issue for you. The touted advantages are sound deadening and spike holding ability. Frankly, my current layout of cork roadbed on 1/2 plywood supported every 12 inches doesn't seem to have sound problems. Spike holding ability is an issue only if you hand lay track. Whether or not to have a road bed is up to you. Most railroads have them. As for using snap together track with roadbed, if the appearance is good, why not? You can always tone the appearance down with a little weathering if it is too plastic looking. Building a layout , even a small 4x8, can take a lot of time. Most of us use time savers such as flex track and turnouts, ready to run locos and cars, etc. This is a hobby and you're supposed to have fun with it.
Enjoy
Paul

[Anonymous]

Can you ballast the snap-together track to make it look like you did a real raised track bed?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by BasicJim

Can you ballast the snap-together track to make it look like you did a real raised track bed?

Yes, amazing what a little glue and sand can do.

[Anonymous]

Homasote is a fiberboard made from 100% recycled paper.

Homasote Company: http://www.homasote.com/

History of Homasote for Model Railroads: http://www.homabed.com/HomabedHistory.asp This link includes a list of dealers.

[Jetrock]

Personally, I use 1/2" thick MDF (medium-density fiberboard) with 1x2" framing, with 2"x2" supports. It's light, but suitable for a shelf layout like mine.

MDF is a really nice material--it's very smooth, cuts without splintering, is stiffer than plywood and is less vulnerable to humidity than plywood or Homasote. It's a little bit more than plywood but only by a couple of bucks for a 4x8 sheet. It also deadens sound better than plywood. Spikes go in very securely--it's stiffer than Homasote or 1/8" fiberboard.

Roadbed is nice for aesthetic as well as sound-deadening reasons--and it's a *lot* cheaper and easier and faster to lay down a few strips of foam roadbed than to buy a big sheet of Homasote and cut it out in your track pattern with a jig saw. I recommend foam over cork--it's more flexible, deadens sound better and is actually pretty inexpensive.

Flextrack is pretty forgiving--one of the "pluses" of flextrack, although it takes a little more work than snap-track, is that you can curve it exactly to your needs instead of being restricted to the snap-track's dimensions. I use snap-track for short sections and to work out layout ideas (I think of them as a construction kit to try out ideas) but normally once I have a track plan finalized I pull the snap-track and replace them with flextrack (thus keeping the snap-track pieces in my track box to work out the next track experiment!)

[Anonymous]

All my past layouts have been either grid or L-girders with 1/2" B-C plywood and I've gotten excellent results.

I've started a new layout this week using 3/4" MDF on L-girders supported by 1x4's. I'm a little apprehensive as I've gotten such conflicting reports about it. We'll see!!!

[n2mopac]

Originally posted by BasicJim

Where do you find the Homosote?

Don't let these people fool you. I asked this question a year ago and was assured by numerous posts that I could find it an any good building supply store. WRONG. I went to Homasote's web site and searched for dealers and found that the entire state of Missouri has only 2, the closest of which is 75 miles away. The stuff is outdated as a building material and nearly impossible to find in most locations.
Ron

Owner and superintendant of the N scale Texas Colorado & Western Railway, a protolanced representaion of the BNSF from Fort Worth, TX through Wichita Falls TX and into Colorado. 

Check out the TC&WRy on at https://www.facebook.com/TCWRy

Check out my MRR How-To YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/RonsTrainsNThings

 

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