To Homasote or Not to Homasote?

Looks like 1/2" plywood deck??  Maybe consider using 1/2" for the side frames.  That dimensional wood I see in the photo can really add some weight.

I have used 1/4" Baltic multi ply for portable modules with 1/4" Birch multiply side frames.  Very manageable.

Do what ever you can to keep the Homasote.

Good points in the previous post regarding using lighter weight materials.  Most benchwork is overbuilt.

I used homasote on my current layout.  Based on my experience, the use of homasote is overrated.  Not worth the additional time, effort, expense, and weight.  I don't plan to use it again.

I used the homasote as it is easier to secure the cork road bed, track and turnouts.

IMHO.

I've used Homasote on several layouts since the early 1980s. Some of my friends have used it long before that.

I have never seen a product that takes small tacks, spikes, etc, and RETAINS them better than Homasote.

Homasote also has sound deadening qualities to help your layout from not sounding like huge drum head. (I've viewed three rail layouts that are deafening.)

You can also rip Homasote into strips (like roadbed), and for curves, cut kerfs spaced about 3/4" apart cut into the roadbed strip about half way toward the inside of the curve, and the result is you can have flexible Homasote for going under curve sections, or better yet, for creating flowing track work w/easements (if using flex track).

However, you will have to find what works for you.

Andre

I love the Homasote layer, it really makes a huge difference in the sound deadening of track noise.  You will lose a lot of the benefit of Homasote by cutting away large sections of it, the purpose if the layer is to kill the sound of the vibrating plywood top.

I have built a couple of layouts and currently working on my new layout. Homasote is definitely the way to go! It has been used for years for its acoustical absorbing properties and as others have stated has other properties that make for a great layout material.

Another nice thing about Homasote is it holds track screws really well, that way they don't go into the wood and transmit vibration down.

I would say no.... left over from the HO days.... mount your track on Woodland Scenics foam roadbed.... don't glue it down, just screw the track down through it, and you're done - ready for ballast - and BTW - on the Muffin layout we don't ballast between the rails - saves a lot of rock, and the foam roadbed is black - just disappears in pictures and videos....

I am a big Homasote fan. As pointed out it holds screws and brads very well, helps with sound deadening and if need be you can easily remove the brads, tacks and nails without calling on your inner Hulk for help.

I know it is very heavy but I don't pick my layout up very often so that is a non-issue for me. I will admit cutting it is a PIA with the dust generated that's why I do it outside if possible.

It also provides a great base for paint and scenic material as well and while the black roadbed might not be noticeable in pics and vids, in real life it sticks out like a sore thumb (sorry Mr. Muffins, I notice stuff like that) and even if you don't see it at first there is always that nagging "Something doesn't quite look right" feeling.

I know others use pink foam but it doesn't take screws and glue and paint as well as Homasote and I've seen another product that looks like 1/2" spongy Masonite that is used for sound deadening but in my opinion is way too brittle to really be useful.

All this being said use what works best for you and if you come up with a winning idea or combo of ideas even better.

Jerry

One word of  caution if you go with Homasote as I mentioned above. Do your major cutting outside as it gets kinda messy.

We like homasote BUT we have no plans to move/lift the layout frequently. As you may know, cut with a regular saw blade it is worse than a Sahara dust storm.

A jigsaw with a knife blade creates almost no dust. We would rather reduce other benchwork sizes and keep the 1/2 inch homasote..

We cut all the Homasote inside with no mess for my layout.  For straight cuts, a utility knife scoring it a few times and you can cleanly break it.  For curves, use a vacuum right at the cutting point with a second helper, that must have sucked up 98% of all the dust.  Ditto for routing the edge before the fascia went on.

@MrMuffin'sTrains posted:

I would say no.... left over from the HO days.... mount your track on Woodland Scenics foam roadbed.... don't glue it down, just screw the track down through it, and you're done - ready for ballast - and BTW - on the Muffin layout we don't ballast between the rails - saves a lot of rock, and the foam roadbed is black - just disappears in pictures and videos....

Sorry, but that's exactly how my elevated section was done, and the noise level for a train running at the same time is way louder on it than on the main level with the Homasote.

Selection of material, construction design and workmanship can make almost any weight portable module light, strong and durable.  You will need all three.

@Bill Webb posted:

A jigsaw with a knife blade creates almost no dust. We would rather reduce other benchwork sizes and keep the 1/2 inch homasote..

Bill,

You're right on the money here.  The knife blade, whether scalloped or straight-edge, is the secret to minimizing the dust:

It works well when cutting EPS (foam) too.

Mike

I do not know were you are moving your layout sections around but I thought I would share how I solved the problem of moving heavy train board sections.

I build my layout out from 1 x 6 inch for frame and the top was 3/4 inch particle board, very heavy.  I knew my layout would be set up on the floor for 1 month a year and then stored, against the wall in a garage.  It also was moved from Jamaica to the states and then move 4 more times to different houses.  I would be the only one moving it around the house but not up steps. I built-in wooden wheels on an edge to allow rolling around with help of handles under the board.  The only heavy lift is when the train board is on the floor and must be stood up.  This is done with care to keep a straight back and lift with legs.  The train board sections were stored against the car port wall and then laid on the floor as necessary.  Much work, like wiring, was done with sections standing against the wall.

6 inch diameter wooden wheels were made from 3/4 inch plywood sealed with Elmer's glue to allow moving of the board sections by one person.  The wheels were installed, with 1 inch diameter wooden dowels for axles (paraffin wax for lubrication).  One wheel is on a corner and another is down the side about 2/3 to the end.  This allows the board to be turned and pivoted around this wheel.   Handles from 1 inch diameter dowels were installed under the board along the edge to allow steering and lifting when moving.

The layout sections were small enough to store and ship in mattress boxes when we relocate due to work transfers.  They are small enough to go through standard size doors and up steps.

The main board length is 11 ft, 1.5 inches in length and width is 5 ft, 9 inches   The section with the control panel is 6 ft, 3/4 inches long.  The other section is 5 ft , 3/4 inches wide.

Corner wheel

Side wheel -  This wheel is doubled up as this section has the control panel and all the transformers, so it is very heavy.

I might say the particle board is fairly quiet.  The train board expansion, to an L shape, was covered with 1/2 inch plywood and very noisy.  I wound up installing slightly over sized tie, pieces of truck inner tube under each tie and switches that quieted it down to about the same as the particle board.  I doubt it as quiet as Homasote.

Charlie

Steam powered O scale at speed on Homasote. Very little board noise.

I've been trying this with MTH and Lionel track, EPS Insulation Board, this bought from Lowes.  It it spongy, picture shows me sqeezing it a bit, and it springs right back, it is about 1/2 inch thick, not hard like other foam or styrofoam boards.  Of course the secret with sound transmission  is to not screw the track down tight, the thickness of a sheet of paper under the screw head  as a gap between track/roadbed is enough to stop vibrations being transmitted to the wood.

Has anyone tried homabed

@trainbob posted:

Has anyone tried homabed

Road bed and the topping of the layout platform really serve to different purposes.  The Homasote topping on the benchwork is really to knock down the vibration of the plywood top to minimize running noise.  The Homasote is also great for holding track screws.

The roadbed will help with road noise, but no nearly as much as the full topping.  I have both, the main platform is topped with Baltic Birch and then Homasote.  The track is on foam roadbed.  The grades and second level are Baltic Birch, and I used foam roadbed under that track as well.  The noise level running is way more on the second level.

I like homasote as a top layer for my layout but as I get older weight is becoming an issue because the layout is for Xmas and is broken down and stored every year. That is why I am thinking about just the roadbed

Portable layouts are a whole different thing, I can see trying to minimize the weight if you're going to be packing it around!  Mine is not going anywhere, so the weight of the Homasote is a non-issue.

I have been using Homabed for many years.  Due to a variety of reasons the business has changed hands about 5 times in the last 25 years.   When I first started using it, the mfg was in NY then in the midwest and then on the West Coast.

Each rendition was excellent.  I see it is now being offered once again by a new owner.  Excellent choice if you can get it

Thanks everyone!  Lots of great discussion here.  Where my head is going now is keeping the homosote I already have installed and then trying to reduce the framing a bit.  Seems like there is too much advantage to the homosote to rip it out and toss it.  For my other modules though I may try a different construction method and then I can always compare sound characteristics.
I'll just have to find a new set of friends to help every time I move since I keep burning them out with all the heavy model railroad stuff

Next question though - I don't see homosote available locally anymore.  Any equivalent product at one of the big box stores? 

As long as you are not going to climb on top, consider lauan plywood to top your frame.

Jan

Menards carries Homasote.  Not sure about others, especially out east.  Menards carries 1/2" exact thickness and I like it because it matches 1/2" thick pink foam exactly.   You might be able to special order it through a home center or lumberyard.  You have to be careful buying it from different places because the thicknesses can vary, like nominal wood, and it will screw up your perfectly even surfaces.  I once bought it twice through the same lumberyard and the second set of sheets were a slightly different thickness.  I've had to shim some joints to match surfaces in the past, and it's a bigger issue if you are cutting road bed out of it.

While it seems the best surface would be all Homasote, using it just for road bed works well.  It's a lot more work, though, but then it is your road bed.

I decided to make my own road bed quite a long time ago after reading about Homabed and an article about how you just needed it for the rails to quiet your layout.  Thus I made road bed out of it instead of covering the whole layout like some do.  It worked for me because all of my curves are O-42 and I made a large jig for my router to cut exact 0-42 road bed.  For switches and different track patterns, I use 1/2" pink foam to substitute -- not as quiet but you're not using much. 

I cut it with power tools and it's messy.  However, on my latest layout, I set my saws up in the corner of my garage and use a fan to blow the dust into one area, and away from me, which helps a lot.  I also use a dust mask and glasses.

Mike

@Jan posted:

As long as you are not going to climb on top, consider lauan plywood to top your frame.

Jan

I did use lauan for mine, 1x2 framing 12" glued with Tite-Bond and screwed on with the Homasote glued on top with the same and supported underneath by 2x4 framing with 36" spacing and around the perimeter and I was able to walk on it no issues. Now I wouldn't jump up and down on it but it was very strong and light weight to boot!

These pics were taken during the deconstruction but you get the idea.

Jerry

The questions and comments about Homasote seem to appear here on a regular basis at about two month intervals. Always the same questions and the same comments. Right now there are two separate ongoing discussions on the subject here on this forum. Did the original poster ever think about using the search function? Or perhaps the administrator could take all these posts and move them to  a topic called "Homasote" and lock it. Maybe it's just me, but I'm tired of seeing the same stuff posted over and over again. It's not like many of the other topics here which often generate new questions and answers. After all, there's only so much than can be said about a 4' x 8' sheet of compressed paper! End of rant for today.

@modeltrainsparts posted:

End of rant for today.

Promise?

Andre

Andre -- Promises are meant to be broken

@modeltrainsparts posted:

The questions and comments about Homasote seem to appear here on a regular basis at about two month intervals. Always the same questions and the same comments. Right now there are two separate ongoing discussions on the subject here on this forum. Did the original poster ever think about using the search function? Or perhaps the administrator could take all these posts and move them to  a topic called "Homasote" and lock it. Maybe it's just me, but I'm tired of seeing the same stuff posted over and over again. It's not like many of the other topics here which often generate new questions and answers. After all, there's only so much than can be said about a 4' x 8' sheet of compressed paper! End of rant for today.

I did search on Homosote but found lots of posts using the word but not individual topics.  I may not be using the search to its best capability.

@EmpireBuilderDave posted:

I did search on Homosote but found lots of posts using the word but not individual topics.  I may not be using the search to its best capability.

Did you spell it correctly in the Search pane?  (Homasote)

Mike

When it's spelled correctly, there are hundreds of hits.

Well, spelled it right half the time, looks like I only get half credit