Andy Sperandeo MODEL RAILROADER Magazine
Suspicions confirmed!
When I was deciding how to assemble my current railroad there were several threads extolling white glue, yellow glue, Gorilla glue - all with the subtext that caulk was somehow "unsuitable" for the job.
Happily, I decided to go ahead with caulk anyway, happily caulking thin foam (fan-fold underlayment) to plywood, and flex to the foam. There are also a few stretches where the foam is caulked directly to the thin steel of steel stud material positioned in the form of long through girder 'bridges.'
In operation, my quieter locomotives have stealth capabilities. Some of my older locos sound like meatgrinders, but that's the loco drive, not roadbed reverberation.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
ereimer wrote: thanks man , that's one more mistake i don't have to make myself because i'm smart enough to learn when others make the mistakes for me enjoy your new quiet railroad !
thanks man , that's one more mistake i don't have to make myself because i'm smart enough to learn when others make the mistakes for me
enjoy your new quiet railroad !
Note to self: Caulk = Good Elmers = Bad
Thanks, K4, you saved me from a mistake down the road!
larak wrote:I just love empirical evidence. Thanks for sharing your findings.
Thanks larak, and I'm glad to share!So many have shared with me, and made it possible for me to make it this far.I felt it was my turn to give something in return.This forum has been a wealth of knowledge to me,reading how everyone did things in so many different ways.Happy MRR'ing!
By the way, I ran that engine back and forth over that center 8 foot section quite a few times, forward, backward, slow, medium, fast, and each time it was quieter than the other two sections!
I'm dancing like Snoopy, nose turned high into the sky with a big smile on my face!!!
TheK4Kid
The mind is like a parachute. It works better when it's open. www.stremy.net
Hi everyone!
I thought I'd share an interesting discovery I made today concerning tracklaying on 2 inch foamboard.I originally used Ws foam roadbed glued down to my 2 inch pink foam tabletops ( 3 of them,each 6 feet by 8 feet for a 6 foot by 24 foot layout.My outside mainline is WS foam raodbed, and I originally used Elmers white glue to glue it to the pink foam,then layed down my track with grey latex caulk.I ran into a unique noise problem,with my tables resonating with what I thought was too much noise.I was very unhappy and had used this method thinking it would be quiet, strong, and lightweight if I ever need to move it.I did some more research on the forum, and found someone else said that white glue dries hard,and acts like a sound conductor, where latex caulk dries soft and pliable, and is less of a noise conductor.So I carefully pried up 8 feet of WS foamroadbed, and gently reglued it with clear latex caulk.Then I ran a train across it, a IHC 4-8-4 mountain steamer.As the engine traversed the first 6 by 8 foot table(glued down with white glue) it was noisy, and as it rolled onto the center 6 by 8 foot table(reglued with clear latex caulk), it suddenly became much quieter!!!!!Then as it rolled onto the last 6 by 8 foot table( still glued down with white glue, it once agin became noisy.
So I am convinced IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE which type of adhesive you use if you are building on foam like I am!
I will now slowly and carefully pry up and reglue all of my outside roadbed with clear laex caulk.
My track is glued down to the roadbed with grey latex caulk.
A lesson learned, but it does make a BIG DIFFERENCE!!!
Working on the Pennsy