Attach Track To Foam Board

I prefer to use plywood as my sub roadbed and nail the track to it. I shy away from gluing my track to foam. If you are not dead set on a track plan and need to make changes the track is very difficult to remove. You may damage the ties and electrical connections making it useless. Use the foam for filling in the terrain around the roadbed and other scenic applications. If you are concerned with noise, try homasote or cork for your roadbed.

I use plywood as the base, then covered with quite brace. Then very very few short screws to keep  the fastrack in place. A lot of guys use glue but I seem to change track routs often so I did not go that route.

Larry

Screw the track (with the roadbed of your choice) into 1/8" tempered masinite and then glue the masonite onto the foam.

I don't know if this would work for O gauge, but for an N scale layout you lay a bead of clear silicon sealant down on the foam board, then push track onto it, using a few T pins to hold it in place while the silicon hardens.  When the silicon hardens, you can remove the T pins & cover it with ballast.

With O, I guess you would have to lay 2 beads of silicon on your foam board where your track is going to be laid, put down the track & hold it in place with T pins until the silicon hardens.  Remove the T pins & cover it with ballast.  Allows you to easily move or remove the track if your layout plan changes, and no nailing. 

 

To Pete 2364     I have used CLEAR SILICONE to glue my K Line track down on top of the Woodlands Foam track bed. A little dab about every 5th or 6th piece. Seems to hold great once dried . Here is a small pic of mine

Pete:

If your foam is not too thick, maybe you can drill a small hole through the tie, foam and plywood, then use black electrical ties to hold the track. The hole needs to be big enough to pass the shank but smaller than the head. Use the head as a "washer" on the topside, then snug up a second tie underneath the layout to clamp down the track. You don't need them every foot, maybe every three or four. The electrical ties will not transmit the track sound to the board. It's no big deal to rearrange the track if necessary.

 

Just a thought.

Neil 

In the past, I hot glued my track down and this made it quite secure. Well, too secure. I had a switch stop working and what a mess prying it up. Now I screw it down to plywood. We live and we learn. David56

I used the hot glue, but instead of running a bead under the track I placed a little dab on the tip of a wood screw and ran it through a pre-drilled hole in the ties and then down into the foam board. The screw held pritty good, especially after the ballest is applied.

White glue will work as well. It even holds great to the foam board as a ballest catalyst when mixed with water and dish soap.

Actually the H2O is probably the catalyst in the mixture, but you know what I'm trying to say.

I just read Brian's post above, I guess I jumped the gun before putting in my two cents. But, in any case the double back tape is a great idea. I used it to attach indoor-outdoor carpet to foam board when I built my son a 3 X 6, O-27 floor layout about fifteen years ago. Mike used it for about five years before we gave it away. The carpet was starting to peal around the edges but a little patch work and it was ready for another kid.