To cork roadbed or not?

[siberianmo]

Here's my two cents regarding cork roadbed:

My former HO layout was constructed using this method. The layout occupied a room I built of about 22 ft by 12 ft. I had a double track run with lots of sidings. It ran quite well UNTIL somethng that I had never planned for entered the picture - HUMIDITY.

Yes - humidity along with moisture, mildew and mold.

Let me backup a bit - the railroad was in my basement. The basement was just that - a basement - unfinished, but it has poured concrete floors and walls. However, as with most basements in this part of the continent (mid-America) they tend to be moist. That problem caused my cork roadbed to swell (at times) and then contract (at times). You need only guess what this did to my trackwork. I wound up tearing the entire layout down and put everything away - swearing that I would NEVER get involved with HO again.

Well - here I am - back in the hobby. Only this time, my basement has a whole house dehumidifier/air purifier unit (at no small expense I might add) installed. The place is as comfortable to be in as the living spaces above. My new pike occupies the majority of basement floor space and in fact a trainroom was constructed around the layout. Kind of like building a ship in one's basement!

Anyway, roadbed is attached to the track - yeah, yeah, I know - NOT at all what real hobbyists prefer - but as explained elsewhere in these forums, I have some reasons for going with this stuff. After ballasting over the cheap looking roadbed attached to my nearly 500 pieces of track - my RR runs fine.

So, while I can see the benefits of cork roadbed, my recommendation is to ensure that when it is to be used that humidity (dampness) be taken into account.

[Anonymous]

orsonroy, thanks for your input. I guess the best rationale for using spikes, cork, Homasote, et al., rather than glue (in my case) is that I often make changes (major and minor) in track plans. Yes, if "foam" is the material of preference for roadbed, then glueing is surely best. After many years of layout building, I opted for the easiest method for making dramatic changes in design. I would not like to think of losing roadbed material plus cleaning-up track and turnouts, etc. due to a hard residue from adhesives. Frankly, the nail heads of the Atlas #2540 Track Nails are barely detectible and with ballast they can't be seen at all. The old "spikes with the huge L shaped heads are not an option for me. Best of luck with your layout Ray and happy railroading.

[Anonymous]

If you use latex caulk, you'll find that disassembly is quite easy and the caulk peels clean from the tracks and the bed.

[Anonymous]

mktrains, thanks for the tip. Is removing latex caulk from the ties easier than pulling a track nail from a tie? The "caulk" seems like a good idea for cork to wood, Homasote or foam, more so than fibre ties to roadbed. I may try an experiment using the latter proceedure very soon. Thanks again.

[orsonroy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mktrains

If you use latex caulk, you'll find that disassembly is quite easy and the caulk peels clean from the tracks and the bed.

I've used both silicone and latex caulk, and I'm still not sure which one is best. Yes, the latex caulk does come off much more easily, but that may be a problem in the long run.

I've experimented with just about every sort of adhesive you can think of for glueing down track, and they basically boil down to two kinds: those that work REALLY well, and those that don't work at all in the long run. Silicone caulk and wood glue work well, since they don't like to let go of the track...period. OTOH, I've been burned by whay seemed to be miracle track adhesives like double sided tape and spray adhesive. Neither worked in the long run, and I had track popping up all over the place.

Due to experience, my current default track adhesive is silicone caulk. I've laid about 40-60 feet with the latex stuff, and while it does seem to work OK, we'll see what it's like in a year.

[Don Gibson]

CORK works good, sounds sood, and looks good.

Back in the 'OLDEN' days we used 1/4" cork. Then ballasted 1/2" Homosote strips looked more real. TODAY HO cork on top of O guage; looks even better (double profile) and talk about sound deadening.....0.4"!

Next time you're out railfanning notice the mainline ballast profile, and if you want to have onboard sound, roadbed can never be be too quiet..

[Anonymous]

Hi Don, would you mind elaborating a bit more on your comments? My question is did you go from 1/4" cork to 1/2" ballasted Homasote as a replacement for the cork? Then, if I understand your meaning, you returned again to cork "on top of O gauge?" The last question I have is the mention of a "double profile?" Could you clearify this for an old senile Gandy Dancer who has trouble understanding the headlines in the daily newspapers? Thanks Don, I wasn't always this slow. Time and tide have taken their toll.

[Paul Milenkovic]

I think what he means is that he uses "O gauge-wide" cork for the "subroadbed" and HO cork for the ballast strip to get a more prototypical look.

I have been using art-store foam-core board -- a wide strip for the base and and narrower strip for the top for that prototype look of ballast poured over a graded subgrade with ditches on the sides for drainage, but I don't know what to do for ballast because you can't get it wet. Maybe I will try to double layer of cork deal, perhaps using ACE hardware cork for the base layer and see how that works.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Paul.

[BRAKIE]

I use cork in 2 sizes.N scale for branch line layouts and industrial switching layouts HO for heavy duty main lines.