Road Bed

I have used foam road bed and cork.  Not sure about the sound reduction quality of either but it is a lot easier to readjust track with the foam.  Just add water to the ballast let it soak in and unscrew the track to move.  I also found it easier to bend the foam road bead.

Marty

I used this foam roadbed.

NOTE:  EBAY LINK DELETED PER TOS

It was easy to work with and worked quite well.

I used the foam roadbed off eBay.   The guy (don't recall his handle) sells it in black and grey.   Top quality and when glued to homasote, you cannot get any quieter in my belief.

I bought the six foot pieces from sparks00033 on eBay, they worked out great.  I had samples from three places, and he was half the price and every bit as good as the others.  He was also the only one that had the longer pieces, they were easier to work with with only half the joints.  The foam worked perfectly going around curves, no splitting like cork, much easier to lay.

I've used the foam with good results. I was going with cork for the first time until reading this thread. Especially regarding curves.

On a related note, I'm about to set up a section of elevated track. I'm creating a thin wooden platform on piers for the track to lay on.  Should I use foam roadbed on top of the wood on these elevated sections, or just lay track without it?

Tony

@Tony posted:

I've used the foam with good results. I was going with cork for the first time until reading this thread. Especially regarding curves.

On a related note, I'm about to set up a section of elevated track. I'm creating a thin wooden platform on piers for the track to lay on.  Should I use foam roadbed on top of the wood on these elevated sections, or just lay track without it?

Tony

I went with cork and i have an elevated 4'x3' area (future hill scene) which is more of a platform, i.e. open underneath for lower level tracks to pass, and its the loudest part of the layout so far.  The hollowness of the underneath area seems to amplify the sound. So...i think you should go with foam on your elev section as well.

1. Lay down a foot of cork roadbed.

2. Lay down a foot of foam roadbed.

Hit each with a hammer.  You will NEVER buy cork roadbed again.

I have never been a fan of cork roadbed - it's too thin to be of much use in sound deadening and doesn't look that great (in my opinion).  Since Vinylbed has gone the way of the dinosaur, I've used the 3/8" foam roadbed sold by sparks00033 on eBay (thank you, @gunrunnerjohn).

It is easier to cut than Vinylbed, too.  Here are some photos.  You don't need special sections for switches - just cut it to fit.

Even if you screw it up, you can piece something together.

Slice it down the middle and or make a series of cuts to create a curve.

Here's what it looks like in profile.  That's Vinylbed on the left.  I use a 3/8" high roadbed, but I think it comes in 1/4" too.

George

My road bed is all Homasote; ran it through the bandsaw with 45 degree angle and sliced off that I needed for the whole layout. Glued and screwed it in place and the next day backed all the screws out.  No muss, no fuss.

@G3750 posted:

Slice it down the middle and or make a series of cuts to create a curve.

Actually, I did my whole layout with foam roadbed, and I didn't have to split any of it.  Most of the curves are O72 or greater, but the one place that has a couple of industrial spurs that are O54 curves, I didn't need to split it there either.  It all formed and laid perfectly flat just form it to the track path.

Cork. It's easy to work with, sounds good IMO and you don't have to glue it down (just use a staple gun), cover it with roadbed gravel and glue, etc. It will still look pretty good on your layout.

Any one have experience with Homabed?  It is still made and seems to me to be a good way to add the advantage of Homasote and a bendable roadbed in one. Plus I like the split , like cork, for aligning the roadbed on a drawn center line for aligning flex track.  I would appreciate any feed back.

Earl   

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Actually, I did my whole layout with foam roadbed, and I didn't have to split any of it.  Most of the curves are O72 or greater, but the one place that has a couple of industrial spurs that are O54 curves, I didn't need to split it there either.  It all formed and laid perfectly flat just form it to the track path.

Found the foam by sparks on ebay. He also offers it in black.  Any thoughts on the grey vs black option?

Tony

@Tony posted:

Found the foam by sparks on ebay. He also offers it in black.  Any thoughts on the grey vs black option?

Tony

The only difference is the color AFAIK.  I had samples of black and grey, and they seemed the same to me.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

The only difference is the color AFAIK.  I had samples of black and grey, and they seemed the same to me.

Thanks. I went with the grey. 

I also ordered from sparks00033 on eBay. I bought 60 feet worth of the gray foam roadbed. It works out to around $0.74 per foot. Plus $9.50 shipping and tax.

I used nearly everything.  All turnouts use Rossbed, with the exception of 3 on the arrival/departure tracks.  The dual-track mainline uses the gray foam roadbed noted above, ¼" thick.  Also the reversing loop, station passing track, and yard lead.  I asked for it to be cut narrower than his standard width, and sparks00033 obliged.  I used cork on the arrival/departure tracks and the first segment of the yard tracks leaving the turnouts.  Woodland Scenics foam was used for most of all yard tracks.

The cork was used because I had a partial box and wanted to use it up.  The Woodland Scenics foam was used for the same reason and also because it's a bit lower than the cork or gray foam and therefore more appropriate for yard and spur tracks.  Rossbed was used for convenience on the turnouts and to reduce ballast requirements.

As for curves with the gray foam, I had no trouble conforming it to my 52" and 56" mainline radii and 44" reversing loop radius, without cutting.  At lower radii, I would cut it as described above by G3750.

@Tony posted:

I've used the foam with good results. I was going with cork for the first time until reading this thread. Especially regarding curves.

On a related note, I'm about to set up a section of elevated track. I'm creating a thin wooden platform on piers for the track to lay on.  Should I use foam roadbed on top of the wood on these elevated sections, or just lay track without it?

Tony

IMHO, it depends on how the finished height of your track matches up to the rest of your layout. If you were running a full thickness board, like a 1 X 4 or similar, or need the extra height on your wooden platform shoeplate to match the rest of the layout, I would use the foam roadbed.

If height is not a concern, I would use a self-adhesive automotive sound proofing material, cut to size, to help minimize sound transmission. It's available in different configurations on the big A at reasonable cost (at least when I bought it).

I definitely wouldn't leave it bare.

To Conductor Earl:

I've used Homabed exclusively for the past 40 years. The company has changed hands several times. They are now known as Central & Western HomaRoad Supply. The product line has expanded to include different profiles for both mainline and branchline including  # turnout pads. I like it better then the cork option as it will not dry out and get brittle over time.

Very nice track work.  Love the l-o-n-g sweeping turnouts.  Watching a train snake through is a real treat.

Thanks Thirdrail600v.  I have a few pieces of the Homabed that I ordered a while back to see how it worked on curves.  I still haven't started the layout yet, but I will probably go with it.

Earl 

Has anyone else who bought from sparks felt like it’s cut a little wide? Here’s a photo of what I got from him and it looks wider than any other roadbed I’ve seen, and I’m wondering if that will affect ballasting and the way it slopes.

I bought 120 feet from Sparks and it appears wider than the cork bed I replaced it with. I will have to take this into conisderation when I lay track from the Atlas Track Pl;anner-from the edge of the track, not the edge of the bed.

@Double Check posted:

Has anyone else who bought from sparks felt like it’s cut a little wide? Here’s a photo of what I got from him and it looks wider than any other roadbed I’ve seen, and I’m wondering if that will affect ballasting and the way it slopes.

Yes, the sparks roadbed is about a half-inch wider than the equivalent WS roadbed, but the cross-sectional profile (at least for the quarter-inch thick version) is otherwise virtually identical, at least by eyeball. I haven't tried to ballast over the sparks roadbed yet (I just ordered some), but I don't think the slight quarter-inch extra width on each side should pose a major problem, and if it does, the roadbed can easily be narrowed, by either trimming one side, or cutting a half-inch strip out of the middle.

I just put down almost 90' of the Ebay gray under Fastrack and the extra width has me perplexed as to whether I should trim it or leave it as is. Any thoughts?

@BradFish1 posted:

I just put down almost 90' of the Ebay gray under Fastrack and the extra width has me perplexed as to whether I should trim it or leave it as is. Any thoughts?

Does it do a good job reducing the sound? Can you post some pictures of how the foam looks with your FasTrack?

I just bought 120 feet of foam roadbed. I am going to use the eintire width if I can as I am hoping the extra width might help deaden the sound. I used cork before and it did not deanden the sound like I hoped it would.

This puts into perspective how much wider the foam from sparks is at the standard width he cuts it at. I managed to find two cases of Midwest Products cork roadbed so I’ll use it instead.