Tabletop question: Foam on plywood

I’m also about to be in the exact same stage of redoing my layout. I’m currently raising my 8x8 L shaped layout. It’s 2 feet high but I’m raising it to 3 (any higher and I’m blocking a window I’d prefer not to). Lifting all the track to put down some foam roadbed from Sparks00033 on eBay(suggestion I picked up from other threads). Just received the free sample yesterday from him and I’m satisfied! Redoing all the electrical so I’ll be adding several lock ons throughout at this time.

I’ll be following this thread since I too am considering putting an additional layer down for sound deadening. I run all postwar on my lines so they tend to get noisy on the current plywood top. I’m also screwed into the plywood too so that’s not helping.

I covered my plywood tabletop with styrafoam inserts designed and sized to be metal garage door insulators, purchased at a home improvement center. Three advantages are that the panels are easy to handle and place on the plywood surface for gluing, secondly, one side is covered with stiff vinyl sheeting that will hold adhesives for detail items and will also hold non-stressed screws (to mount signals, streetlights, etc., and third is the option to cut trenches for last minute wiring...fill in the trench with Sculptamold or other landscaping material. BTW: there is a fourth advantage: the noise level is reduced to a level that a wife can endure!

Attaching track to foamboard:

John

@Craftech posted:

Attaching track to foamboard:

John

It is possible to use anchors (I like plastic ones) to secure track screws into foam. Lay out the track and mark the holes with a sharp pencil point or awl; remove the track and insert the anchor into the foam with a little adhesive and let dry; replace the track and screw down using not too much force.

IMHO, if the track is laid out properly so it lies flat and is not under a lot of torsional stress, you should only need a screw every 2-3 track sections to hold everything in place and keep it from moving around.

On my 300+ feet of Fastrack on ceiling tile, I have about 6 screws in the track, mostly on grade transitions. No trouble since 2014.