Expansion plans/ suggestions

[coldstorage5]

Hey, I bought my circular saw and I will start in April to create a 12' by 6' layout. I will use Fastrack.

Couple of questions.

1) What should I put on top of the plywood?? 

Will anything help to keep the noise down a little??? 

I was thinking on a part of it to put some indoor/ outdoor carpet. 

2) I bought some trees from Fred Trees ( on ebay, in Penn).  How can I stick them so they can stay???  They are  sticks on the buttem.  I need to put them in something so they will stay.

3) So... You guys have been great to me.. I cant wait to build.... I really could use a little more wisdom.

 

Thanx,

CS

[johnandjulie13]

Hey, I bought my circular saw and I will start in April to create a 12' by 6' layout. I will use Fastrack.

Couple of questions.

1) What should I put on top of the plywood?? 

Will anything help to keep the noise down a little??? 

I was thinking on a part of it to put some indoor/ outdoor carpet. 

2) I bought some trees from Fred Trees ( on ebay, in Penn).  How can I stick them so they can stay???  They are  sticks on the buttem.  I need to put them in something so they will stay.

3) So... You guys have been great to me.. I cant wait to build.... I really could use a little more wisdom.

 

Thanx,

CS

For sound and landscaping, you can put 1" foam on top of the plywood.  Planting the trees will be easier (as well as other landscaping) and the foam may provide some sound deadening to the track.  Also check the FAQ thread about reducing the noise of fastrack.  Here is one link to a previous discussion:

http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/935130/ShowPost.aspx 

Good luck.  Keep us posted on  your progress.

Regards,

John

[Jumijo]

We used 2" foam on our layout, and I don't think it does enough to deaden the sound generated from the FasTrack. If I had it to do over again, I would have looked into adding Homasote, Sound Stop, or even cork on top of the foam.

12' x 6' is a nice size for a layout. You can use 054 curves on an outer loop. With the built in roadbed, 072 curves will be too wide. 

Jim 

[coldstorage5]

Ok I found this link about Homasote:

http://cs.trains.com/forums/1364120/ShowPost.aspx

So I should get plywood and put Homasote on top.

What about getting these trees like this with no base to stay??  http://cgi.ebay.com/Autumn-Glory-Tree-Pack-Great-Colour-6-7-cm_W0QQitemZ140214993360QQihZ004QQcategoryZ11648QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I know a real rook question.  I dont think it will stick into the Homasote.

 

Thanx,

CS

[johnandjulie13]

Hello CS:

Drill a hole about a 1/4" into the plywood (or homosote) and glue the tree into the hole.  You can use a white glue and the tree will stay in place.  Plus, by using an Elmer's type glue, you will be able to easily remove the tree later if you decide you want to relocate it.

Regards,

John

[Roger Bielen]

I've read of some folks getting foam carpet pad and cutting it to the size of the Fastrack, maybe a bit wider,  and slightly compressing it as the track is fastened.  This supposidly helps fill the void, sound chamber, in the track.

[ChiefEagles]

I used the Soundstop by Celetex.  Not ceiling tiles nor is it the black "jiplap".  It is a sound proofing.  Same specs as Homasote but cheaper.  I used more than one layer.  I ran trains yesterday and I noiced how quite they were compared to when I was on hard board that I used for the "underlay" of the layout.

[clickmatch]

As far as pricing goes, on a 12 x 6 you'd need 2 sheets of Homosote which runs about $22 per sheet where I live in RI. How much less can the Celetex be? I'm not sure you can even get that around here. Also note, not everyone carries Homosote either. Home Depot did not have it in my area, so I went to a small lumber yard.

I did some sound tests and it does quiet it down a bit, but I'm also using foam track bed with Super O, so there's not a huge plastic void under my track.

Have fun!

[johnandjulie13]

As far as pricing goes, on a 12 x 6 you'd need 2 sheets of Homosote which runs about $22 per sheet where I live in RI. How much less can the Celetex be? I'm not sure you can even get that around here. Also note, not everyone carries Homosote either. Home Depot did not have it in my area, so I went to a small lumber yard.

I did some sound tests and it does quiet it down a bit, but I'm also using foam track bed with Super O, so there's not a huge plastic void under my track.

Have fun!

Hello Clickmatch:

I also had a hard time finding homosote.  I went with foam on top of my bench and used Vinylbed underneath my Atlas track.  As a result, I have an extremely quiet layout.

Regards,

John

[dadurling]

Take the time to visit the threads mentioned above about deadening Fastrack sound. At a minimum, go with the 1/2" plywood base topped with at least 1" pink foam. I might try the 4" wide foam door sealer directly under the fastrack. The good thing about using the pink foam as your overall base is that it's very easy to stick trees into. Depending on the tree trunk size and material, I've used finish nails with the heads clipped off and just inserted them into the trunk and then stuck the tree into the foam. Of course, I'm at the stage of my layout where I'm constantly moving things around, so I avoid gluing anything down!

[RockIsland52]

If I understand the posts on the topic of "sound" insulating the track, here and in other threads, some of you are insulating the whole board, some the track only, and some doing both.  No?

Jack 

[Jumijo]

Jack,

I did the whole board. And quite unsuccessfully, thank you.

[ChiefEagles]

As far as pricing goes, on a 12 x 6 you'd need 2 sheets of Homosote which runs about $22 per sheet where I live in RI. How much less can the Celetex be? I'm not sure you can even get that around here. Also note, not everyone carries Homosote either. Home Depot did not have it in my area, so I went to a small lumber yard.

I did some sound tests and it does quiet it down a bit, but I'm also using foam track bed with Super O, so there's not a huge plastic void under my track.

Have fun!

1/3 to 1/2 price.  Lowes can get it for you.  Home Depot has no idea.

[Jumijo]

The Home Depot right down the street from me sells both Homasote and Sound Stop. I often wonder if using either/or on top of the foam would have made the track noise any quieter.

Jim 

[ChiefEagles]

Sure is quite on three layers of soundstop.  Also did search on Home Depot site for Soundstop and Celotex and it came back Sorry, so their site does not know what it is.

[jefelectric]

Chief, your realtrax is naturally quieter than fastrak, due to the heavier plastic and solid rail, but I do agree & think homosote or soundstop is quieter than foam.  Just my .

[Buckeye Riveter]

Has anyone used Fastrack with the Scenic Express Rubber Ballast? 

[ChiefEagles]

Anyone tried to fill Fasttrac with caulking?  Wonder if that would quiten it down?  Foam VS homasote/soundstop ???  Foam is quite.  Soundstop is too.  I can stand on Soundstop and not dent it.  Hit it hard and it dents. 

[fifedog]

Get yourself a hot-glue gun and a bag of glue sticks from your local craft store.  This will make short work of planting any tree you have in no time.

Also, understand that securing your track with some type of screws, as well as adding scenery, WILL deaden the track sound pretty good.  I agree with some of the others here that styrofoam may not be a good "muffler", and you may actually pick up the squeaking sound of compressed styrofoam as the train rolls over...

[dougdagrump]

The best part of using the foam, the thicker the better, for surfacing is the ability to carve it to create a variety of terrain.

[Jumijo]

I plant trees in our foam by poking a nail in the foam, then I put the tree's trunk in the hole. Poke, plant, repeat. Poke, plant, repeat. Poke, plant, repeat. Poke, plant, repeat. Poke, plant, repeat. Poke, plant, repeat. Poke, plant, repeat. Poke, plant, repeat. Poke, plant, repeat. Until you have all the trees you need.

FasTrack on 2" foam isn NOT quiet, but to tell ya the truth, I've gotten used to the noise. And like your mama always told ya, it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for.

Jimijo of the Jumijo

[ezmike]

Question for those of you who used tinplate track on foam, how do you secure the track? I've heard of using chaulk/adhesive under the metal ties, using ballast with a heavy coating of glue mixture and I read the CTT article about Neil B's layout where he uses the small zip-ties through the screw holes with another zip-tie on the other end.

 I'm at this stage of my layout, deciding what to use to deaden the sound, Homasote/Celotex or pink/blue foam. I may have access to the foam at little or no cost.

 Opinions and suggestions welcomed.

 Mike

[Jumijo]

Mike,

How are your 2344s? I'm SO jealous!!!

I used pink 2" foam on our layout and it holds screws well. What you could do is caulk the bottom of the metal ties and adhere it to the foam that way, and screw the track down until the caulk dries. Then you could still leave a few in as insurace. If you plan on ballasting the track, the glued ballast will do a good job of keeping the track together and from moving. 

Jim