Temporarily Gluing Track (Before Ballasting)

[Anonymous]

Currently, my cork roadbed is glued down (to foam subroadbed) with my track sitting in place (yet loose) on top. Since I know that ballasting the track will ultimately set the track permanently, I'd like to temporarily, yet firmly, glue the track down WITHOUT LIFTING IT UP off the cork. And while I want it to be glued down firmly (because it may be a while before I ballast and don't want it coming loose from train operations) I would like to be able to remove it fairly easily if I want to make any changes along the way.

I was thinking about dripping a few drops of C/A between two or three of the ties on each section of track, but wasn't sure if that would melt the cork, or even hold.

I also thought of using a diluted 50/50 white glue mix eyedropped between the ties.

Any advice or suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!!! [:D]

[Anonymous]

Dave a little white glue will do the trick. I have done that before!

DON

[Anonymous]

Why not pick up a little bag of track nails at your LHS and tack the track down with them? Since they will only be going through cork and foam they'll be easy to install and to remove when you're finally ready to permanently fix the track in place.

I used nails instead of glue. My mentor at my LHS, has been modelling railroads for a long time. In fact he once told me when I asked how long it took him to finish his layout, "I started it in 1956...and I'm still not finished!" He said use nails, always. Never glue your track down. It's far easier to make changes with nailed down track than glued down track.

Just my [2c] worth.

Trevor

[oleirish]

I use just a real small drop of C/A in three places(use medium set) It will not effect the cork.A putty knife under the glue spot removes the track.

OLE'IRISH

[Anonymous]

Maybe you all can help me with a similar situation. I have spiked down cork and track on my n scale pike. It's small, and I plan to take it to shows, but I worry the track may come loose, even after ballasting. What's your experience with using track nails only and transporting a layout? I think those real life RR crossings might be rough on a model railroad in a car. Should I add some glue?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies guys!!! That helps!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by DONNNNN

Dave a little white glue will do the trick. I have done that before!

DON

Don, do you mean the 50/50 eyedropper technique I was thinking about trying? Or do you mean a small full strength squeeze between ties in two or three places per section of track?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by TrevorG

Why not pick up a little bag of track nails at your LHS and tack the track down with them? Since they will only be going through cork and foam they'll be easy to install and to remove when you're finally ready to permanently fix the track in place.

I used nails instead of glue. My mentor at my LHS, has been modelling railroads for a long time. In fact he once told me when I asked how long it took him to finish his layout, "I started it in 1956...and I'm still not finished!" He said use nails, always. Never glue your track down. It's far easier to make changes with nailed down track than glued down track.

Just my [2c] worth.

Trevor

I was debating doing this as well, but I guess I'm afraid the track might shift too much before I get to the ballasting part. Scince the nails would just be going into cork and foam. I may try this before I go with glue though, just to get the track set up and tested.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by oleirish

I use just a real small drop of C/A in three places(use medium set) It will not effect the cork.A putty knife under the glue spot removes the track.

OLE'IRISH

Thanks OLE'IRISH, This is actually what I'm leaning towards right now.

[Anonymous]

Use White glue (PVA) diluted to about 50/50. If you need to change it later on just spray it with some 'wet water' and it will loosen.
When you want to ballast wet the glue with water and follow the usual directions.

[CHIPSTRAINS]

GO WITH THE SMALL NAILS. I TOO HAVE A "FOAM BASE" AND I DIDN'T USE CORK, BUT, I FASTENED IT DOWN WITH NAILS, AND IT HAS WORKED OUT JUST FINE. WHEN I WANT TO MAK AN ADJUSTMENT, I JUST PULL A FEW NAILS, RE-ADJUST, AND I'M BACK AND RUNNING IN NO-TIME. YOU MAY WANT TO TRY IT.. CHIP [:D][:D]

[RoyalOaker]

I agree with chip.

I also have my track laid on cork over 2" foam. The nails work great and can be adjusted very easily when you need to make a change.

I ran like this for months before I got around to caulking my track down and never had a problem.

[bogp40]

All the methods above will work. If you decide to use the 50/50 or even stronger, use some wet water first to break any surface tension.This will stop any glue from globbing on the ties and will run under the ties where you want. Water w/ alcohol works better than just water w/ detergent and dries much faster without diluting the glue further.
Bob K.

[Anonymous]

Thanks again everyone!!! Great information here.

[JimValle]

Just some musings: I wonder what it is with foam. I laid cork over plywood and spiked the track down with brads. It's much stronger that way while still allowing for adjustments. I had a lot of ballasting to do and when I looked at the price of Woodland Scenics and other brands of model RR ballast I practically had a heart attack! At my local building supply yard they had silicon sand blasting grit in six grades. An eighty pound sack of medium/fine grit cost about ten bucks. It was also the exact color of the ballast on the tracks just across the street from the yard. It spread very nicely, glued down hard and firm and looked great. I could have left it natural but decided to color it
by spraying it and the track with Rustoleum oxide red after it had set up hard. It was a quick, cheap and efficient way to do 350 feet of mainline track. Occasionally a stray
chunk gets in between switch points but not often and a pair of tweezers takes care of it. Good luck with your track plan!

[Anonymous]

Well, I decided to go with the spikes until I'm through testing the track. I'm glad I did, it worked really well. Especially since I did find some spots that I needed to pull back up and re-adjust. They seem to hold really well for this stage, although I wouldn't expect them to hold as anything permanent. Next will be the 50/50 glue solution until I'm ready to ballast (which may be a while yet).

Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

I used Elmer's rubber cement under my track to hold it in place. I am using foam rubber (Trackbed) roadbed on foam homasote subroadbed. I glued the roadbed with the rubber cement without any major debonding problems and then glued the track down with the rubber cement once that had dried. Only thing is, you need to be pretty generous with the cement to hold the track down. But if any debonding happens on the track, it can be pulled back up, a new layer of cement added, and then press the track back down. It helps to weigh the track down, too, with bottles of paint, or other items that size. And, like other methods, a few strategically placed track nails keeps everything in line!

[Anonymous]

I have cork glued to foam and found that stickpins hold the track down great, I used a black pernament marker to color the pin heads. It is easy to adjust and make changes. I found that the extra length of the stick pin holds great.

[rrinker]

QUOTE: Originally posted by rrrich304

I have cork glued to foam and found that stickpins hold the track down great, I used a black pernament marker to color the pin heads. It is easy to adjust and make changes. I found that the extra length of the stick pin holds great.

I fasten my track and roadbed with latex caulk, but I use push pins to hold things in place if necessary (usually at the very edges of a strip of roadbed). Interesting you colored the heads witha black marker - I specifically removed all the balck ones from my pack (I bought the multi-colored ones) because they were very hard to see against the track and roadbed, especially the black roadbed. The white and bright yellow seem to stand out the most.

--Randy