dehusman Piece of flex track. One end on Homabed/cork, other end on surface. Air underneath. After its ballasted, solid underneath.
Piece of flex track.
One end on Homabed/cork, other end on surface.
Air underneath.
After its ballasted, solid underneath.
Ahhh, thanks.
Alton Junction
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
yankee flyer By center fill, do you mean between tracks, or between the rails of one track?With two tracks I thought each had it's own road bed.If you cut a curve out of a solid sheet does that not leave a lot of waste?I kind of like the split cork road bed for all but yard track.
By center fill, do you mean between tracks, or between the rails of one track?With two tracks I thought each had it's own road bed.If you cut a curve out of a solid sheet does that not leave a lot of waste?I kind of like the split cork road bed for all but yard track.
Between the tracks.
richhotrain My thinking would be to buy large sheets from an on line cork supplier to substantially reduce the cost. If you cut the double main line road bed from sheets, you kinda resolve the center fill issue. Just cut it wide enough to accomodate both tracks. I really like the idea of the 3 mm N scale height of the road bed because it takes a lot less ballast to cover the sides of the road bed even if the sides are not sloping. Rich
My thinking would be to buy large sheets from an on line cork supplier to substantially reduce the cost.
If you cut the double main line road bed from sheets, you kinda resolve the center fill issue. Just cut it wide enough to accomodate both tracks.
I really like the idea of the 3 mm N scale height of the road bed because it takes a lot less ballast to cover the sides of the road bed even if the sides are not sloping.
Rich
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
By center fill, do you mean between tracks, or between the rails of one track?With two tracks I thought each had it's own road bed. If you cut a curve out of a solid sheet does that not leave a lot of waste?I kind of like the split cork road bed for all but yard track.
Top of the morning all.
Lee
richhotrain I would strongly prefer to use 3mm N scale cork roadbed in my HO scale modeling, prototypical or not. Do any of you do that? Rich
I would strongly prefer to use 3mm N scale cork roadbed in my HO scale modeling, prototypical or not.
Do any of you do that?
I, too, use 1/8" Homabed on the main and tapered Homabed down to the Homasote subroadbed for spurs , yards, etc. My decision was primarily based on the fact that on a modestly sized layout with relatively dense track like mine, the lower profile roadbed makes the trackage and its surroundings look less crowded and more spacious.
Dante
dehusman Sure. No problem. All of my track is on 1/8" Homabed or N cork . I use 1/8" balsa and sand it to wedge for transitions. For flex track, sometimes I don't even do that, just ramp it up or down. Once you glue in the ballast it doesn't matter.
Dave, what do you mean by "ramp" it (flex track) up or down?
richhotrain I would strongly prefer to use 3mm N scale cork roadbed in my HO scale modeling, prototypical or not. Do any of you do that?
I use the 3mm Funky Foam from Hobby Lobby. Three years ago when I started using it I couldn't find 5mm that is now available in sheets. Glad to know that others use 3mm cork without worrying about the looks. I always thought it looked fine and never really considered the savings on ballast until now. I cut it in a jig I made as detailed in the October 2013 MR magazine.
I have used the standard HO cork roadbed in my yard areas. The material is actually 3/16" high. I use the cord pads sold through Walthers as well. One thing I do is 'sand' the cork with a Surform tool or my detail sander to get rid of the rough 'hard' edge of the cork. My 4 track yard has large cinder ballast between the roadbed strips, and then standard Arizona Rock & Mineral 'Yard Mix' ballast on top(up to tie level). The result is a nice flat yard area. I have used the 'N' scale roadbed and just cut up additional material to fill in center area. I also use lots of 1/8" and 1/4" Masonite to build pads for my structures. I use my version of 'Ground Goop' (patching plaster/latex paint) to fill in the ground areas.
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
cowman I have heard of folks using N scale cork on HO layouts for yards and sidings. Don't remember what they recommended for filling the center, whether they cut strips from a sheet or what. See no reason not to use it, expecially if you can come up with a fill between the two peices with sloped edges.
I have heard of folks using N scale cork on HO layouts for yards and sidings. Don't remember what they recommended for filling the center, whether they cut strips from a sheet or what.
See no reason not to use it, expecially if you can come up with a fill between the two peices with sloped edges.
I use 1/4" for my mainlines, and 1/8" elsewhere. I cut my own from cork rolls.
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
Prototype varies some as the terrain varies. The depth of the actual ballast on the sub roadbed probably doesn't vary as much as what we see along the edges. If it is on a fill, ballast spills down the sides, on a level the track may not be far above ground level..Some probably depends on the type of soil and drainage in the area.
Good luck,
Richard
We use N scale road bed frequently for sidings, yards etc as well as cork sheets. Ballast has a varying height because of the road bed/ right of way variations. But, I think the HO cork is of average height for a heavy mainline. A lot of short lines don't have much ballasting height vs surrounding ground at all--I can think of many areas with maybe 5" or less.
Cork road bed is typically sold in 5mm thickness for HO scale and 3mm thickness for N scale.
If my math is correct, that works out to be 17 1/8 inches in HO scale and approximately 19 inches in N scale. I don't know how accurately that portrays the prototype, but I do know that I really dislike working with 5mm thick roadbed in HO scale, especially for ballasting purposes and transitioning into yards at grade level.
Cork sheet is typically sold in thicknesses of 1/4 inch (6 mm), 1/8 inch (3 mm), 1/16 inch (1.5 mm), and 1/32 inch (0.75 mm), making it ideal for transition purposes.
Thoughts, comments, criticisms?