Do you really need road bed

Directly on the Homesote works fine. Just secure the track to only the homesote. Not into the plywood if you use screws or nails. I don’t think the cork roadbed adds that much as far as making it any quieter with the homesote under it. It’s more to create a ballast profile if your going that route.

If you're putting it on Homasote, other than appearance, you don't really need it.  As for screwing the track down, if you just make sure the screws don't go all the way through the Homasote, that won't be a factor.  The Homasote will hold screws fine, just use short enough screws, probably no more than 3/4".

I hasten to add.  You'll still have plenty of track noise with that Fastrack, short of filling each plastic base with sound deadening material, there's no easy way to quiet that down.  I used to have Fastrack on carpet, it was even noisy there!  Now I have Gargraves & Ross on Homasote and a 1/4" foam roadbed, the difference in sound levels from the track is amazing!  Now I can actually hear all the nifty locomotive sounds that I paid the big bucks for!

I always use cork roadbed on my layouts. It has many advantages some are a smoother surface to lay your track on and it helps to visually separate your track from the plywood or homasote. Also I do believe it helps to deaden the sound and makes ballasting easier.

I agree with John. If noise is a primary concern, your choice of track will far outweigh the use (or not) of roadbed over homasote. I had a large, multiple-track Fastrack layout on homasote and it was very loud. I tore it all out and switched to Atlas. The difference was massive from a noise standpoint. Lots of threads on the forum about this subject and they may be worth a search to you.  

Keep us posted with pictures of your layout build.  It looks great.  

Thanks all for the suggestions. A lot of the fast-track is elevated to match the 10.1 inch rise of the front section of the layout. I used the fast-track to make the process of the two double track MTH bridges work. Most of the tracking is Gargrave's and ross switches and Millhouse turntable. I will be using the Lionel Legacy control system since most of the engines I have collected over the years are Legacy ones. Once I have a functioning track run, I'll try some with road bed and some without and tech check the sound levels. I'll add new photos as I go along. Everyone have a happy up coming holidays. 

I use GG track and Ross switches laid directly on homasote and would use that combination again, if I were to build another layout. While I don't use roadbed as such, I do place Midwest N scale roadbed (separated into strips) on the outside of the ties. That somewhat reduces the amount of ballast I need and gives a proper slope to the ballast.

Thanks, and a tip o' the hat to Dennis Brennan for that idea.

I do have one more question. And that is to screw down the track or not. Or, will the track stay in place well enough if I just put it down on the Homasote with track ballast that I then glue down with no screws holding the track, only the glued ballast. This would be the same question if I were to use roadbed. Thanks for all the suggestions. 

I'll add a third voice about track choice being a major noise contributor.  I tried MTH Realtrax for my Christmas layout years ago.  MTH provides for rubber feet to be added beneath each track section to quiet the noise, but their effect was marginal at best.  The plastic roadbed remained much too noisy.  Menards tubular is much quieter.  I use GG track on cork over plywood for my year-round layout and am pleased with the low noise level.

A side note, many reiterate the idea of not letting track screws penetrate through the roadbed (or base layer such as Homasote) into the plywood base.  Presumably the screws would translate vibrations, and therefore noise, to the plywood.  I have not found this to be the case.  Since cork does not hold screws well, my track screws penetrate into the plywood beneath.  I believe there was a thread many years ago where a forum member did some experimentation with sound meters on different track concepts that debunked the screws into plywood noise myth.  I did some searching but could not find it.  It was an excellent thread if anyone can resurrect it.  I do understand that Homasote holds screws well as John mentioned, so in your case there is no reason for your track screws to penetrate into the plywood in any case.     

If you are gluing down ballast. No screws are needed. But you don’t want the track shifting around and you want it to lay flat. With the Gargraves. Find a screw that fits between the ties with a head big enough to grab them when snugged up. I suppose you could even use a washer. You don’t need to go crazy tight. When the ballast glue dries. You can remove them and add a bit of ballast in the void that didn’t get done. This will eliminate drilling holes in the ties.

I watch a layout builder on You Tube. He uses full soda cans laid on end to weight the track down. But I believe he uses and adhesive to hold it in place.

I use cork roadbed to raise up the track and then use less ballast to create the ballasted shape. under the track.

The sound is not a bother to me.

I'm in the Atlas track and cork roadbed camp. My layout is on 3/4 inch maple plywood with the track screws through the cork and into the wood. Sound is awesome.

The roadbed adds realism for me.  I prefer it.  Can be used with or without Homasote.  

For my elevated sections that didn't get Homasote, I added the butyl rubber sound deadener to the underside of the raised plywood sections.  The difference in track sound levels is quite dramatic from the bare plywood bottom.  This stuff is available on Amazon and the effort of installing it is well worth the time.  The track is on 1/4" foam roadbed, but the screws are certainly into the plywood.

Any truth to the idea that the ballast after being glued actually amplifies the sound similar to the plastic Fastrak and Realtrak?  Our old club layout seemed to exhibit that trait but it's been some years...

There was a recent thread that touched on the subject of whether to glue the ballast or not and the difference in sound was mentioned.

I used GG Track and Ross turnouts directly to the homasote. I drilled the ties and used #6 3/4 inch screws and I get to listen to all the neat engine sounds from all my MTH motive power and Post War Lionel is even pretty quiet.

@oldguy posted:

I have retired from 30 years with the government and decided to build my first large layout. Its in a room that is 40 x 45. I have used 1/2 inch plywood with Homasote as the top layer. Laying both Gargrave and Lionel Fast-Track, since it is a large amount of track, it would definitely be a lot easier to not place a road bed, but just screw the track down. I am concerned with the noise level, but would using a road bed help to extend repair times on rolling stock, or are there things I have not even considered in making the choice to use or not use. Any suggestions are appreciated.  

Wow, what a cool room, I really like the stairwell fence/gate setup. I'm a newbie, but in my experience with FastTrack it was very noisy, I switched to Atlas and there was a dramatic improvement to the sound.

@c.sam posted:

Any truth to the idea that the ballast after being glued actually amplifies the sound similar to the plastic Fastrak and Realtrak?  Our old club layout seemed to exhibit that trait but it's been some years...

There was a recent thread that touched on the subject of whether to glue the ballast or not and the difference in sound was mentioned.

No. More mythology. Anything that eliminates vibration and thus propagation of sound does not transmit sound......unless your entire layout is designed to operate as a sound board.

I doubt that ballast does anything to quiet sound either.

I use the foam road bed but use rubber ballast glued down the same as other ballast.  Scenic Express is the only supplier I found but for me it absorbs some of the sound and looks realistic.  It is also much easier to take back up if you make changes on your layout.  I was able to wash it and reuse it.  I use the Gargraves track and Ross switches.  You can see the results on my YouTube site PRR Joe.

I use cork roadbed but that’s because I’m on bare plywood. I’ve never used homasote but it sure sounds like that is the solution for no roadbed. That is one beautiful train room. Keep us posted with the progress.