A question for those who had cork crunble. Had the track been ballasted???
To stir the pot I'll say that W S's foam roadbed has worked well for me and reccomend it highly. Easy for the curves and of course is eay to cut.
Just My Worth.
Bob
Don't Ever Give Up
I'll stir the pot some more. Isn't Woodland Scenic's foam road bed mushy and squishy? ewe! I think I like cork and Homabed best.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
riogrande5761 I'll stir the pot some more. Isn't Woodland Scenic's foam road bed mushy and squishy? ewe!
I'll stir the pot some more. Isn't Woodland Scenic's foam road bed mushy and squishy? ewe!
Yes, it is very flexible and that is one of its advantages. It can be laid on an uneven surface and the foam obsorbs any reasonable bumps. Also it doesn't need plywood for support and can be laid directly on a foam only top if that is what you choose. Personally, I did use plywood as a sub roadbed.
I plan to stick with what I know, have used and like. No foam roadbed for me. Sorry no sale. I'm old school, like old, before WS foam road bed, type school.
Been using Homabed for decades.
Nailed to plywood with a brad nailer, track glued with clear adheasive caulk, turnouts mostly "floating".
Never tried to save and reuse track, especially after ballast, have saved turnouts 80% of the time.
Current layout project is modular to allow future move - no more total demo.......
Sheldon
Unless you used loose ballast that you could just vacuum up, the ballast is more of an issue to clean off than track adhered to the roadbed with caulk. If you do it right - unballasted track will just pop off with slight pressure. By doing it right, I mean spread a THIN bead and spread it with a putty knife or scrap credit card (old hotel room keys work well). On top of the roadbed should be a tacky layer, not a bed of adhesive. The ties stick on top, not get embedded in. I think if enough caulk were used to end up with the ties embedded in it, it would indeed be difficult to remove the track without damage. The tacky layer method results in track attached about the same amount as track nails that go into homasote but not all the way through into the underlying plywood - lift up on the track and it can be removed without damage either way.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
riogrande5761 Since I believe Homabed is a paper based fibrous product, I suspect that trying to salvage it or any ballast affixed to it by wetting it might not work as well as using cork. Cork likely holds up to water and scrubbing better, but we'll see. Sure seems like it. I've been breaking down my layout and salvaging what I can, like screws, rail joiners, track nails, track joiners, lumber etc, even cork road bed, but for me soaking and recoverign blobs of ballast may be where I draw the limit personally.
Since I believe Homabed is a paper based fibrous product, I suspect that trying to salvage it or any ballast affixed to it by wetting it might not work as well as using cork. Cork likely holds up to water and scrubbing better, but we'll see.
Sure seems like it. I've been breaking down my layout and salvaging what I can, like screws, rail joiners, track nails, track joiners, lumber etc, even cork road bed, but for me soaking and recoverign blobs of ballast may be where I draw the limit personally.
It took only a few minutes to scrape it off. I'm not that cheap as to not buy new ballast, but its mostly falling off of the roadbed by the time I wet it enough to remove the track. Just a bit more wetting and I ended up with the equivilent of a WS container, so it was worth my time.
- Douglas