Layouts and layout building

I'm currently working on a 14' X 26' layout and I'm trying to determine the best surface to cover it. I'd like some noise reduction. I now have a base of 1/2 " plywood, and I'm leaning toward a thin indoor/outdoor carpet. Can anyone tell me some pros and cons to this? This is my first large layout, and I would greatly appreciate some help. Thanks.

Are you saying you'd cover the entire layout with carpet? Never heard of such a thing. Sounds unnecessarily expensive especialy since I don't know that it'd work anyway.

Yes, I was leaning toward covering the entire surface. I want to be able to stand on the platform, so styrofoam wouldn't work for me. I plan to have primarily track and trains with not much actual scenery. My old, smaller, platform was only painted, and it was quite noisy. I thought about cork, but I don't think it can be purchased in large enough sections. Carpet seemed to be the best bet, but I wanted an idea of any drawbacks there might be.

Loose fibers from the carpet finding their way into mechanisms would be one concern. If you really need to stand on it often, painting the surface with a durable finish would probably be better. I don't imagine you'll get a lot of sound control from carpet. Using a softer roadbed just under the track itself might help a little. But since you're basically building a big sounding board, you may have to deal with some noise. You can buy sheet cork at many home centers, but again I'm not certain it will give you much sound-proofing.

trnslgb:

Yes, I was leaning toward covering the entire surface. I want to be able to stand on the platform, so styrofoam wouldn't work for me. I plan to have primarily track and trains with not much actual scenery. My old, smaller, platform was only painted, and it was quite noisy. I thought about cork, but I don't think it can be purchased in large enough sections. Carpet seemed to be the best bet, but I wanted an idea of any drawbacks there might be.

Cork roadbed, which is widely available, by the way, need only be as wide as the track, not cover the entire surface of the layout.

Out of curiousity, why do you want to stand on the layout?

My initial thought was to make the entire surface uniform, but I might start thinking about just under the track itself, as you suggest.

I'll need to periodically stand on the layout since there is a window above it, as well as decorative items on the walls surrounding the platform. That's also how I will need to handle derailments, as I am using the space under the platform for storage, and won't be able to have any "trap doors".

 Thanks for the help! 

trnslgb:

I'll need to periodically stand on the layout since there is a window above it, as well as decorative items on the walls surrounding the platform. That's also how I will need to handle derailments, as I am using the space under the platform for storage, and won't be able to have any "trap doors".

I'm finding this tough to picture. How tall are you that you can walk on a layout in a room with a ceiling--or is it a very high ceiling?

Maybe a folding step ladder would work out better.  I am not sure how often you need to stand on the layout.  I have seen ladders that are designed to allow you to lean over a table or other object.  You basically have 2 or 3 steps then a part you lay your waist on to reach to a location to the rear.  I think I saw it listed in one of my automobile magazines.  If was to make it easier to work under the hood of trucks, but I am sure something similar would work well for a train layout.  A standard small step ladder allows me to reach the wall behind my layout.  Extruded foam board is pretty cheap and easy to work with to create some variations in ground profile.

It sounds as though you are going to have one solid surface for the entire 14'x26'. 

I would suggest you do a walk in layout.  Keeping the sections near walls to under 30" deep will allow access with a ladder step stool to the window and other items on the wall.

Enjoy

Paul 

I'd stay away from carpet for the loose fibers. Cork can be purchased in very large rolls from a flooring supply store. Or there's always the 12" square cork tiles.
I remember my Dad had a 4x8 layout mounted on some kind of greyish 1/2" press/particle type board. It was REAL quit. Don't know what they called it.

IRONROOSTER:

I would suggest you do a walk in layout.  Keeping the sections near walls to under 30" deep will allow access with a ladder step stool to the window and other items on the wall.

I'd have to agree. Sounds like you are planning a large, solid table of 14 feet by 26 feet, which would be totally impractical.

 A 14 foot wide, solid based layout?  Or do you mean 14 inch wide.  If it's going to be 14 feet wide and against the wall, how in the world do you plan on being able to even lay track or add scenery to it?

If you want sound deadening between the plywood and track, and for it to be strong enough to stand on, you could add a 1/2 inch thick layer of Sound Board or Homosote.  Personally, I prefer Sound Board over Homosote because it's a lot easier to find at home supply stores such as Home Depot or Lowe's, and lumber yards.  Sound Board is made from compressed sugar cane and other vegetable fibers, but is very dense and easy to work with.  Homosote is compressed, recycled paper.  Both come in 4x8 foot 1/2 inch thick sheets.

 Hi trnslgb,

Can you post a a drawing of your proposed layout?
This will give all of us an idea of what you are trying to build so that we might be able to help you better.

I have another question regrading your ID on here trnslgb.
Is this to be an HO scale layout or a G scale layout?
And at the dimensions you have given, 14 by 26, access to all points is impractical unless you plan walkways into the layout, or some sort of acess to it.
Or is it in an area where from poit to point it is 14 feet across, and open in the middle and 26 feet long?
If it is G scale like many of the  garden railroads, where they are low to the ground, and in which case I can see you standing on it to access a basement window.If it is very low and in an area measuring 14 by 26, and very low, and has an open area , I can see you stepping over part of it, or do you plan on being able to walk on it to access all areas of the layout?

Okay, you other guys chime in here, I hope I see what trnslgb is trying to do here. Possibly putting a "G" scale model railroad in his basement just off the floor.Does this make sense now to anyone else?
Maybe I can see his idea of carpeting it now, and if so, I think an outdoor carpet is what he might have had in mind.Considering "G" scale track would work on such a surface. 

Maybe I am way off here, but would this make sense to any of my fellow modellers out there?
Being it is just above the floor ( just a guess) this would explain having enough clearance to clear the ceiling and reaching a basement window and being able to walk on it makes more sense to me now.
And if I am right, he is in the wrong part of the forums, he needs to post this in the Garden Railroad forum.

trnslgb, good luck to you!

TheK4Kid

I have G as well as HO scale, and yes, you could build an indoor G scale layout and cover it with indoor-outoor carpeting because the motors are not close enough to the ground to worry about carpet fibers getting into them, and walking on the layout would be no problem either.

But if it's going to be anything smaller than O I would not use carpet.

I'm going to assume you are speaking of a 3 rail O or G "tinplate" layout, or possibly even American Flyer S, rather than an HO or N scale layout with realistic scenery.

The "scale" layouts usually try to have all parts of the layout reachable without climbing on the layout. Scenery tends to be more realistic than carpet would be. And this particular forum caters to the "scale" guys. The "tinplate" guys hang out in the Classic Toy Trains forum.

That said, I have used indoor/outdoor carpet over 1/2" plywood on a 4x8 3 rail O (mostly Lionel) layout I built. The tubular track on the green carpet produced a traditional "tinplate" feel to the layout. I was still able to screw down the track and accessories, and drill holes to move the wiring underneath the table top. And the carpet did produce some sound deadening - about equivalent with cork from what I could tell.

I installed the carpet by wrapping it over the edge of the plywood and frame, and tacking the carpet edge on the underside of the plywood. About the only disadvantage to the carpet I saw was that it's basically incompatible with any other form of scenery. You wouldn't want to add plaster or anything more realistic on top of the carpet - the contrast would be pretty glaring. For this reason, I probably wouldn't use carpet to cover the entire table top on a large layout.

With a larger space like yours, I would seriously consider not having a solid table top. You only need plywood and a sound absorbing material under the track and where buildings and accessories are located. Carpet padding or Homasote are 2 of the better sound absorbers. The rest of the "table" can be open top space to be used as pop-up access or other types of scenery. Not having to climb on the table to lay track or run wires can be a lot more comfortable.

my thoughts, your choices

Fred W