I'm using cork roadbed for the first time and am wondering what I should use to attach the track to it. I will be using Elmers full strength to glue the cork to the foam base, which leads to my next question. Should I even be using Elmers to attach the cork to the foam? My apologies if this has been addressed a million times, but I'm rather new to this game.
Welcome to the forums.
Yes, it has been asked many times and when you learn to use the Search our Community function down the righthand column, you will find some answers to your questions. You may still have questions and that is what the forums are for, answering questions.
I would not use Elmers at all on foam. I use cheap latex caulk, spread a thin bead spread out flat with a putty knife. When doing the cork you have time to do the two strips (be sure to offset the ends for smother surface) before it sets up. It is a good idea to press it down firmly. After about 24 hours spread another thin layer on top of the cork and place your track. You have time to adjust it. Place cans of food, paint, books or other weight on top of the track to hold it firmly in place while the caulk sets. If you are using flex track it is a good idea to use T pins to hold the curves in place until the caulk sets. You do not want enough caulk to come up between the ties. Only takes a thin film.
Run your trains for awhile to make sure your track work is perfect before you ballast. Much easier to take up track without ballast on it. If you do have to take it up, carefully run the putty knife between the cork and track.
One other suggestion. Paint the cork under your turnouts with a paint the color of your ballast. This way you can carefully ballast turnouts and not have to get it on so thick as to hide the color of the cork.. Also, do not put caulk anywhere near the moving parts of the turnouts. Let the track hold the turnouts down.
Have fun,
Richard
It's a toss up, which comes up more often, how to attach track, or which brand of DCC system to use?
Cheap latex caulk. Fast, easy, adn cheap. Works for attaching the cork to any commonly used base material - foam, plywood, homasote - as well as attaching the track to the cork. Spread it THIN. Very little is needed. It should NOT squish up around the ties. Properly applied it will hold the track securely yet you can easily slip a putty knife under the ties and remove track without damaging it.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Gluing track to roadbed is a bad idea, no matter what adhesive you might use. You will find adjustments are necessary as you progress with the installation, and if you want to change the track layout, trying to remove glued track will destroy both the track and roadbed. This can get expensive where turnouts are concrned.
Fasten your track in position with spikes, brads, long thin nails, or even pins. This will allow changes without damage to the track or roadbed.
From first hand failures I'd like to warn you of a few things I learned the hard way:
(1) DO NOT use silicone based caulk- like it says on the lable it doesn't get hard and therefore you have to clean off the mess and use the cheap stuff (which does get hard... one of the few times cheaper is really better!)
(2) spread the caulk THINLY. It takes far less time to dry (<36 hrs) and makes a much better bond only if you leave a THIN coat of the stuff.
Other folks have covered this but dummies (like me) read that before and still screwed it up. I hope you avoid the above two errors by reading this note from the department of redundancy department
Roy Onward into the fog http://s1014.photobucket.com/albums/af269/looseclu/
(1) DO NOT use silicone based caulk- like it says on the label it doesn't get hard and therefore you have to clean off the mess and use the cheap stuff (which does get hard... one of the few times cheaper is really better!)
Other folks have covered this but dummies (like me) read that before and still screwed it up. I hope you avoid the above two errors by reading this note from the department of redundancy department.
Thanks for the advice. I will try it using just RR spikes and see how it goes. What is the right size ballast for HO?
Somebody used too much glue, or the wrong kind
I am bulding my second layout using latex caulk as the adhesive. On both of them, I made some changes from my plan - AFTER tha track was in place. I try to avoid that by plenty of up-front planning but ideas came to me after I started putting the track down. No damage.The last thing I want to do is have to throw away a $12 turnout - and I didn't. They peeled up undamaged and I reused them with no problems. The trick is to use very little caulk. I ure experimentation of you haven't done this before, because the amount that works looks like it couldn't possible be enough to hold things in place, yet it does,
Track nails are not without issues. Atlas COde 83 track only has holes for nails started fromt eh uinderside - you have to drill them out. Don't hammer int he nail too hard, it will press down the center of the track and narrow the guage of the rails. Be sure to runt hem in straight or you will force the track out of alignment. And unles you are using a wood product for the base, they won't hold. That's the other factor - I use extruded foam insualtion for a base, nails don;t work there, glue it is, and caulk is one of the better options for strength, speed, and cost without being so permanent you have to cut out a mistake and toss it in the trash.
rrinker Track nails are not without issues. Atlas COde 83 track only has holes for nails started fromt eh uinderside - you have to drill them out. Don't hammer int he nail too hard, it will press down the center of the track and narrow the guage of the rails. Be sure to runt hem in straight or you will force the track out of alignment. And unles you are using a wood product for the base, they won't hold.
Track nails are not without issues. Atlas COde 83 track only has holes for nails started fromt eh uinderside - you have to drill them out. Don't hammer int he nail too hard, it will press down the center of the track and narrow the guage of the rails. Be sure to runt hem in straight or you will force the track out of alignment. And unles you are using a wood product for the base, they won't hold.
I don't know about all the other brands of track, but Walthers/Shinohara is pre-drilled at the "tie plates" for spikes, not nails. And either holds very well in Homasote or Homabed.
Dante
That's why I said 'wood product' - ok so homasote is cardboard but it all comes from a tree. AActually, this is where I strongly disagree with construction techniques - everyon touts the 'spike holding' ability of homasote. The ONE layout I tried using homasote, I was able to remove all the track and roadbed for reuse simply by pullign it up with my fingers. The portion of the track nail throught he cord roadbed had more holding power than the nail into the homasote. Yes, that's plenty to hold it in place until you apply ballast and glue it down, but if I can just lift up on a piece of track and pop the nails out without breaking the plastic tie strips (this was N scale, so somewhat more delicate than HO), that's not 'holding'. Easy, yes - all I really needed was a nail set, I could push the nails in by hand as well, no hammering needed. I SZTILL say that when handlaying track on wood ties on top of homasote, what's holding the rails is mostly the spike in the wood tie, NOT the spike in the homasote.
I am referring here to HO track. The spikes in Homasote hold just fine during the operation of the trains. Wood ties and/or roadbed might well be better (I don't have personal experience), but Homasote/Homabed work very well. When I remove a track, I pry it up with a putty knife under the ties adjacent to those with spikes. Once started in that manner, I can pull on the track itself with my hands to lift the spikes free, but have to be careful not to bend the track or break the ties-better to continue lifting with the putty knife. Once removed, easy to reinstall, and no caulk to clean. Same experience with track nails with Atlas. Mind you, the track has not yet been ballasted.