Homasote Technical Question for those that have used it...

[jrbernier]

Where you have problems is when using it for 'spline' roadbed, with no subroadbed(plywood) under the homasote - you will have 'sag' problems for sure. Just remember:
The plywood moves at one rate, the homasote at another, and the poor track is hanging on for dear life!

Jim

[toot toot]

I'm building a new layout and am using 3" high homasote splines for sub roadbed.  At present i'm using 5 pieces of homasote glued with elmer's moo glue and clamped until the glue sets.  has anybody here had any experience with delamination, and what about securing the spline to the risers 

[reklein]

CARRfan, You might try a plywood specialty shop or a real LUMBERYARD and not a home improvement store. HD and LOWES rarely have the hard to find stuff because it doesn't sell that fast. The homasote product you will find at HD is used for expansion joints in concrete. It comes in 8'x4" strips.

I had good luck using a bandsaw to cut my strips with angled sides.Then cut your bending slots. It does not resaw worth a hoot, Bandsaw blade wandered like crazy and the peices tended to curl up as they came off the saw. I gave up and used it full thickness. Use the extra thickness for mainline ballast or cover it with scenery. A good coat of latex paint will help with water absorption if you think that might be a probem. You could paint both sides with a roller before you even start cutting. That way the bottom will be sealed too.

I got mine at Windsor plwood in Spokane WA, unfortunately about two years ago and I still have a partial sheet of the stuff.