Carpet on your layout

Indoor/outdoor carpet on the old layout.

Were you happy with it? Are you doing the same thing on your new layout? I think it looks good. Dave

Indoor/outdoor carpeting on my spacious all tinplate all the time 3x4 layout.  Its the only one in which I used carpeting as a base layer.  Wish I had used it on my other layouts.

That looks very good with all the color👍

Here is mine still under construction.  I still need to adjust some of the track system since I’m not totally  happy with the operation.

Here is another one although not indoor/outdoor carpeting.  I used a very thick grass mat covering for my 4x8 retro S Gauge American Flyer layout. 

Wayne I think I have the same kind of green. They all look good. I wasn't sure if I should paint the track area gray or use gray carpet. Dave

@Dave Nichols posted:

Were you happy with it? Are you doing the same thing on your new layout? I think it looks good. Dave

Yes, I was very happy with the carpeting. Along with the Homasote underneath, it made for a fairly quiet layout. I will not be using carpet on the next layout. That one will be more of a hi-rail layout.

Ok Joe thanks for your pictures and input. And good luck with your new layout, I'm sure it will be great. Dave

I asked a similar question 8 years ago, here's the answer, but towel not carpet:

The June '79 issue of Model Railroader has an article by Art Curren entitled "LeWot Bog"

I think for simple toy type layouts, the carpeting is fine. It keeps it simple still looks very presentable. Especially when one isn't trying to achieve High rail features. Simple Green carpeting is what I plan whenever it happens. It goes good with the toy look of tin buildings and such

I use painted carpet underpad, instead of carpet. The advantage is you can paint and texture the underpad to give a more realistic ground appearance. I paint it with a ground coloured latex paint, mixed 50-50 with water, then sprinkle it with grass, earth and N-scale fine ballast to get the look I want.

Below is an area that was painted, prior to adding buildings. The wires easily poke through the underpad to power any lighted buildings, accessories or track.

The same view with buildings added. You can then add trees and roads as you like. You can add many layers of cover to the carpet underpad to get the look and detail you desire. Everything in the view below is just sitting in place. All items can be easily moved, as needed, to make improvements. This method allows me to improve my layout as I learn new things and get new ideas.

A close up of an industry located in the corner of my layout, with more detail in the buildings and ground cover. The bushes and trees can be free standing, or glued to the underpad. I keep everything free floating, so I can move things around as I make changes and improvements to the layout.

Very neat idea Joe K Thanks

This is a layout that is the grand prize in our modular groups' holiday fund raiser:

Peter

I used dark green indoor/outdoor carpet for my Christmas Tree layout. It just finished its 21st Christmas. The last several years I have covered it with Buffalo Snow Flurries, but it vacuums up easy enough that I could still go with just the carpet.

@NJCJOE posted:

Indoor/outdoor carpet on the old layout.

Joe, that to me is the ideal layout. Toy train all the way! No modeling: buildings , accessories and TRAINS.Beautiful!

@WaynePa posted:

Here is mine still under construction.  I still need to adjust some of the track system since I’m not totally  happy with the operation.

Wayne--that's great looking benchwork! You build it yourself?

Home Depot indoor-outdoor.

Here are some pictures from our club's modular layout at a couple of events.  The modules have been redone over the years and we have gone to a short nap, tight-weave gray carpet for the ballast sections of the modules.  The "green" sections are of slightly different shades, but it is hardly noticeable.  The sound is pretty low considering we have four or six trains running at once. Everything operates very smoothly.

I like the gray under the tracks. Looks good, thank you.

I was sitting behind the bulkhead on a UAL flight looking at the "scene" rendered in different carpet textures and colors, and decided to build my first modules using a similar carpet technique.  The carpet remnant sales folks got used to me scrounging for an "art project".  These modules were used in many National Capital Tracker layouts over a couple of decades and have held up well.  The high pile grey carpet used as ballast was a PITA to cut ... metal cutting shears worked best.  I found during experiments before building the modules that the carpet decreased track noise better than cork ballast.   A good quality carpet will not shed fibers into train wheels.  I have to use snow batting for that annoyance.

@Dave Nichols posted:

I like the gray under the tracks. Looks good, thank you.

Yes it does. I like to think that I'll remember that when the time comes, unfortunately I won't

Tracker John, creative use of your flight time and the result looks great. regarding the surface of the layout, though not as good in appearance, I have had the best success with the operation of vibrotor accessories (like cattle chute and barrel ramp) operation on top of plywood, homesite and traditional grass paper. just a consideration.

If I need a hard surface for buildings or accessories, I cut a rectangle out of the high pile stuff.  All of my recent modules use rubber-backed outdoor carpet from the big box stores which works fine for adding accessories and is easier to work than the high pile stuff.

Gray short-pile indoor/outdoor over 3/4-inch plywood here:

Just enough rumble to keep you honest.

PD

@pdxtrains posted:

Wayne--that's great looking benchwork! You build it yourself?

While I did build it with help from a friend it is Mianne Benchwork.  Near furniture grade.  Came with everything except the top.  I opted for the transformer cart.  Everything is on locking casters so I can move the layout from against the wall to work on it.

I also used a “Jones” plug to connect the ZW-L to the track wiring.  Makes it easier to disconnect it if I need to work on the wiring.

@WaynePa posted:

While I did build it with help from a friend it is Mianne Benchwork.  Near furniture grade.  Came with everything except the top.  I opted for the transformer cart.  Everything is on locking casters so I can move the layout from against the wall to work on it.

I also used a “Jones” plug to connect the ZW-L to the track wiring.  Makes it easier to disconnect it if I need to work on the wiring.

Wayne, did you add the casters or did Mianne?

No, Mianne offers both locking and non locking casters as an option instead of their standard leveling feet.  The casters are the leveling type.  Great for a layout against a wall since they allow you to work on the back of the layout.

If you were considering Mianne, and I would highly recommend it, and the casters keep in mind that they increase the height by 2 1/2 inches.

This benchwork is so easy to work with and if you consider your time and the junk lumber at so many of the big box stores it’s a bargain.

The other advantage is the benchwork can be taken apart in the event you need to move.

I've got green indoor/outdoor carpet from a local carpet company, and painted the roadbed gray and the streets tan.

@WaynePa posted:

No, Mianne offers both locking and non locking casters as an option instead of their standard leveling feet.  The casters are the leveling type.  Great for a layout against a wall since they allow you to work on the back of the layout.

If you were considering Mianne, and I would highly recommend it, and the casters keep in mind that they increase the height by 2 1/2 inches.

This benchwork is so easy to work with and if you consider your time and the junk lumber at so many of the big box stores it’s a bargain.

The other advantage is the benchwork can be taken apart in the event you need to move.

Thanks, Wayne! I am considering them, particularly since they roll!  Is yours a 4x 8?

@MattR posted:

Yes it does. I like to think that I'll remember that when the time comes, unfortunately I won't

Dennish, the more I look at your layouts the more I like them. I really think that would be the way I would go. I like to no frills approach. I don't even have a layout yet and I'm already to the point of knowing that I don't want a lot of intricate things that will cause problems. And a flat table surface with carpeting like yours fits that bill. I don't want Troublesome accessories either. I'm already selling ones that are famous for being problems. I just want to be able to run my old trains. I've even decided to go with manual switches and have only a couple of sidings. Mine will mostly just be loops as my goal is to Simply display and celebrate old toy trains. Old tinplate buildings and accessories, and out of scale gate men and such. I'm not a high rail person at all. As much as I want a layout and will eventually have something , I actually enjoy the collecting end of it more. Although even that is evolving as I'm getting older.

I really like the look of your setup