First of all, my wife and I have taken down more than a dozen layouts for clients for whom we've helped dispose of their estates. The idea that used cork is recoverable is, well, ....unknown to us. Staples, nails, drips and drabs of any adhesive....it doesn't matter. More often than not, 'old age' of cork....it dries out and gets very brittle and crumbly with time. The binder in the cork...that gives the ground cork its flexibility...has volatiles that simply lose their mojo after awhile. Give a fresh box/piece of cork the nose test sometime. Then, if you have a very old piece of cork roadbed lying about, give it the nose test.
That said, we (LHS) tell our customers to put the cork down with contact cement...THIS stuff:
Here's what we say...
1. Lay out your track on the subroadbed...plywood, homosote, etc.
2. Mark the outer edges of the ties....it's faster and easier than getting under the center rail with a pencil, Sharpie, ....whatever.
3. Take the track up and mark the center line...a point between the tie edge marks. A simple piece of cardboard the width of the ties and a center mark on it makes the job go fast....and is even something the kids can get involved with!!
4. Connect the centerline dots/marks to make a continuous smooth line. THIS SHOULD BE DONE WITH A BLACK SHARPIE ON SIMILAR PEN BECAUSE IT IS CRITICAL TO LAYING THE CORK.
5. Take your cork strips and separate them along the center cut. Lay them out UPSIDE DOWN on sheets of newspaper. Lay out enough to do several feet of track at a time.
6. Get some of the Weldwood green-can contact cement linked above. It's the NON-stinky stuff. It's water-based. You can do this job in your basement/attic/...railroad room, and you don't have to put on a respirator mask! Yes, it's not as 'gippy' as the red-can, usual contact cement, but for cork roadbed it's the cat's meow!
7. Using a cheapie brush, coat the bottom of the corks strips and the sub roadbed on either side of the center line (to just beyond the tie edge marks....not necessary to be fussy about this). The dark black centerline should show through the cement coating.
8. As per the cement instructions, let it all dry until it's tacky to the touch (about 20 minutes or so) and no 'wetness' remains.
9. Pick up a half-strip of the cork and, starting at one end, lay the squared edge along the centerline, lightly pressing as you go. I say 'lightly', because if you EVER want to re-adjust your cork, NOW is the time to do it, and the green-can stuff is not so grippy at this point that you can carefully pull the strip back up to re-align it.
10. After you've laid a few half-strips on one side of the centerline, lay the half-strips on the other side, simply putting the squared edges together as you lay the second set. STAGGER THE JOINTS...as others above have instructed/suggested. This is especially important on curves.
11. And, regarding laying cork on curves.... We suggest laying the INSIDE half-strips along the centerline first. Two reasons: They will require the sharpest bending, and, once down, will simplify laying the outer half-strips against them. You may have to apply a bit more pressure initially as you lay the cork on a curve.
12. Once both sides of the cork are down....and you're happy, happy, happy so far!...follow with rolling the top of the cork with some sort of roller to ensure a good bond. You can buy laminating rollers at hardware, home improvement stores. A rubber roller artist's brayer (inking roller...Speedball brand) is what we sell and use.
13. When laying cork under switches, the easy way is to get cork sheets and cut and lay them separately. If you prefer to cut and blend the cork strips through the switch zone, first lay down the outer strips for the diverging routes. Then cut, fit, and glue filler piece(s) afterwards.
That may sound complicated, but believe me, it goes really fast once you do the first few feet.
BTW, if you insist on trying this with the regular 'red-can' contact cement, all bets are off, you're on your own, and rots-o-ruck, pal.
FWIW.
KD
