I need your advice on carpet underlayment, foam sheets, and fastrack

By carpet underlayment, do you mean padding or luaun?

I meant padding...sorry.

I would skip the foam board and go with just padding. The foam will add back the noise.

I agree with ADCX ROB, foam board will just act as a resonating chamber and amplify any noise made by the wheels on the track. It's rigid and mostly air. Thump it with your fingers like a drum and it sounds like a drum doesn't it? Foam board is only good for scenery elements and, in my opinion, has no place as a roadbed, or sub-roadbed for train track. I think you're on to something with the plywood and carpet padding though, as long as the material you choose is stable enough to support the largest locomotives you plan to run.

Test it out yourself.  I use Fastrack and installed foam board on top of 3/4" plywood as a base and in some areas I have foam up to six inches thick.  I don't have a noise problem on my layout.  I run a MTH Premier Big Boy, AC4400 and a GP35.  I can pull thirty car trains and probably longer if I unpack the rest of my fleet.  You don't have to run your trains wide open, just run them at a constant speed.  I did visit a layout outside of Pittsburgh that was a loop of Fastrack and it was very noisy.  It was on homasote and the locomotive was about sixty years old.  It sounded like a threshing machine.

LUVTrains,

IMO for completely killing FasTack layout noise, the acoustic block ceiling tile that fits together, is the way to go, easy to work with, a few screws here and there, with a light piece of inside outside carpet over top, deadens the FasTrack sound so much that my wife asked me to let the 2nd level run right on the Plywoods, she likes to hear the trains run.  I always screw my FasTrack down.  Works and sounds great.

PCRR/Dave

Thanks everyone. I should add that the basement is finished and has carpet flooring.

ADCX ROB, RICKA1, That's what I needed to know about foam board. I will still use it for scenery. Maybe I will put carpet padding were I mark off where the track runs. I want to be able to paint, use ground cover, etc on the top surface. That's why I asked about foam sheets over the padding so I can do that.

JMILLER320 yes, a test run is a good idea.

PINE CREEK/Dave, I have been looking at acoustic block ceiling tile in the Home Depot. My concern is how well the screws hold to the tile. Also, which side of the tile is face up on the surface? Do you glue it to the plywood? Can it be painted for a ground cover effect? I would put the padding or indoor/outdoor carpet only under the run of the track, not the whole surface so I can paint it.

I did some small tests with fastrack using plywood, ridged foam over the plywood, and rubber padding.(the thin web like material used on shelves and in drawers) I found the foam over plywood was actually louder than just bare plywood. The rubber padding was less so but still  noisier than I liked. I didn't test carpet or pad so I can't speak to that. When I build a layout I will use atlas track with some sort of pad (foam or rubber) because it makes the atlas track almost silent. Any track with a molded in roadbed is going to be impossible to deaden the sound.

The foam sheets are great if you want to carve some terrain. River, small valley, etc. It's also good for creating relief for building bases to sit down in.

Just reverse the layers ply, foam, padding for terrain. No terrain, padding only.

After the track is down, you cut along the roadbed edge so the padding is only under the track. A little paint or ballast will hide the edge. Check out Sandjam's video. he built his like you are thinking with no foam.

Liquid nails would be good for the foam. There is foam compatible version, check the labeling. Just staple the padding down sparingly.

Sandjam's videos can be found on You Tube and he discusses the sound absorbing material near the 13:30 mark in Episode 3.

Not disagreeing with any suggestions above, I found that the pink foam under fastrack made a HUGE difference in the sound level. I initially tested my layout directly on the plywood, the noise was frightening. I went with 1/2" sheets, maybe should have gone thicker but I'm very pleased with the reduction in sound.

 Another use for foam sheets:

If you look closely at the lower corner of this photo you can see where the track is laid on 1/2" foam. I  used a second layer butting it up to the roadbed as close as I could. I then filled in the remaining gap with Woodland Scenics mold-a-scene, and ballasted to give the roadbed a lower "yard" type profile.

FWIW, when I first bought my train set with RealTrax, I already had a 4x8 sheet of Melamine and it was loud. The Melamine was also heavy and the layout had to be moved 3 times a year for family get-togethers. I was a novice at foam, so I tried a 4x8 sheet of 1" foam on a 12" grid of 1x3's with no plywood for the weight savings. Admittedly, it was appreciably quieter, but still too loud for my tastes. I don't know if it would have been quieter over plywood, I never tested that. It was even quieter after I laid down some white batting for the Christmas layout. I still have some foam sheets left, so when I get the benchwork ordered and assembled for my new permanent layout, I will once again test the foam over the 1/2" plywood I intend to use with Mianne benchwork. I'm going to eventually use Atlas track, but I'll test with the RealTrax first just to satisfy my curiosity.

Dave and Carl...thanks! I have watched Sandjam's videos on you tube. That's where I got the idea of using the underlayment / padding. I never realized that was him! I think I might try plywood - foam - padding.  I will cut the padding to the width of the fastrack roadbed.

luvtrains posted:

Dave and Carl...thanks! I have watched Sandjam's videos on you tube. That's where I got the idea of using the underlayment / padding. I never realized that was him! I think I might try plywood - foam - padding.  I will cut the padding to the width of the fastrack roadbed.

Just bear in mind that he didn't use regular carpet padding, he used sound-absorbing padding. Office buildings, condos, high-end motels/hotels, etc., use both. Regular padding might be enough, so please let us know what you use and how things turn out.

Dave, you are correct it was sound-absorbing padding. I'll ask sandjam where he found it. I still have to complete the top with plywood. Don't think it will be until after the holidays. My handyman figured on 10 sheets of it. I will be able to use leftover pieces.

I was trying to make a video of my layout the other day.  My layout is all FasTrack.  I was running two trains.  One E4400 pulling 27 cars and a Big Boy pulling four passenger cars with a gondola on the rear with the camera.  I don't think my track is noisy to start with and I run my trains at a slower speed then wide open.  I did notice a different in sound when the trains traveled over the Styrofoam sections of my layout.  I used six inch blocks of Styrofoam for the elevated sections and the risers. 

My last layout was indoor/outdoor carpet from H D on 1/2: plywood.  Was not noisy at all.

I was using K-Line Super track and Snap Track.

Jmiller thanks for the recent input .

Larry, that carpet looks good. I will avoid foam under the track. But tHat carpet can be cut to size under the fastrack. I think I will stick to foam core only for scenery such as ground cover base, and other terrain design.