I was thinking of spraying , as seen on TV flex seal, on the under side of my plywood board that my tracks run on top of. . My thoughts would be to quiet the noise of the trains movement across the board through deadening the transfer of that sound. I would like to hear the purer sounds of the train, program sound effects and since I don't want to remove the track thought it would be an easy fix. It appears to look like asphalt after applying.
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That stuff is some of the stickiest , tack consistency known, and will absolutely
stop a gutter, I think you will have a mess, and be throwing it out the door,!!
Somebody makes a flexible rubberized, black cork board, for road bed, I have
found Monsanto, makes this stuff to hold large (VERY LARGE) rolls of paper, in
my trailers when shipping, and I use it under the track, IT DOES quiet down,
and with the back texture, mixed what looks like stone , makes for no ballasting for
me .( free for me) --- I think Brian (Passenger Tr Col) on this forum, also knows about, Johnsons road be maybe !!!
Just another Tv Gimmick . Not worth 20 bucks in my opinion.
phill,
That's a whole bunch of cash. The product in question is used to seal small cracks and such. I must admit that it does work when used as it was created to do. I honestly doubt that it will do little to quiet trains. For what Flexseal would cost you could add 1/2" soundboard or almost pay for 1/2" Homosote. There are a few tried and tested ways to deaden track noise. There has been thousands of attempts to do so. The only thing accomplished was the waste of money.
The one single thing I did to quiet sound the most was to add a quality made skirt around my entire layout. Make this out of the thickest, heaviest material you can find.
I wanted to use it to put on lumber already in place spraying up from under the board to block the sound transfer. . I would think it would dry enough in a short time not to be sticky and not have to use a 1/2 inch. Heck, 1/2 inch application I might as well tear down the layout and start over. i will try it out and report back as I was hopeing maybe someone here had used it in this application. I'll do a segment to hear the difference. I remember one time in my HO days a substance that came in rolls that was like a asphalt roadbed and sticky as one press the track into it.
Phill
That product was Instant Roadbed. I picked up several rolls for a project recently off an HO board for an 0n30 layout. Very similar to HVAC seal wrap.
Solid construction and solid rail track (Atlas and certain Scale-Trax) is the best sound deadener. Tubular track IME, is the loudest.
Two rail scale is the quietest 0 scale method.
I don't know about that "Flex Seal" stuff advertised on TV, but our local Home Depot carries the Rust-Oleum product called "LeakSeal", which comes in white as well as black, and it sure isn't any wear need as expensive as that stuff on TV. I have used the white spray sealant on a few bad gutter joints, and it sure work great, i.e. just went through this past winter without any drips at all.
I don't think I would use it on a model railroad, however.
Dynamat might work better for that application. It's a type of sound deadener that is used in high end car audio installs to dampen the vibration from the sheet metal panels. It would be rather expensive for a large layout though.
I made no particular effort to create a silent railroad as i constructed it. Now that trains can operate I hear them roll along and clackity clack through the switches and this is the sound of trains...frankly some noise is very prototypical and welcomed.
I don't feel that black goop is any kind of substance to be applying under benchwork if only for future maintenance and possible changes.
phill,
flanger is so right when it comes to sound. I run prewar tinplate on Lionel tube track. Anyway you look at it, it is one noisey combination. I softened the echo with curtain around the layout. As for the shake, rattle and roll of tinplate, I surrendered many years ago.
I guess that curtains would contain the echo sound of the train rambling down the rails sort of like a trumpter and that muffle over the horn. Anything to break up/distort sound waves passing thru the hard boards. I will try that to and see check the results.
Phil
Quietest track I ever heard was Milt Sorenson's. He used indoor/outdoor carpet strips under Tru-Scale roadbed. I don't think that kind of carpet is made any more.
The theory is that vibration is the ratio of stiffness over mass. Putting spray seal on the plywood changes the mass of the unsupported plywood, and therefore changes the response of the plywood to vibration. In this case, it should reduce the noise, but by how much will need a tryout.
Phill
I would try it, flex seal might work if it goes on thick enough.
Clem
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