Track bed or no track bed for layout??

Definitely use track bed and others here can give you advice on what to use. I went cheap on mine but glad I put something down. money was tight at the time. use the best you can afford.

Our whole layout as Flexxbed, which previously was named VinylBed, and is made out of re-cycled vinyl. It is VERY easy to work with, and is also very quiet.  

I have always like cork roadbed. It's very to work with

I used Woodland Scenics foam road bed with Brennans Ballast on tubular track.

I started out using a black rubber based track bed that was semi sticky on both sides, very similar to "Ice Guard" used on new roofs above your gutters.  Unfortunately they stopped making it before I finished my layout.  Needing several more yards of track bed I remembered rapping the water pipes in my basement and immediately went to Home Depot and bought a couple boxes of their black spongy pipe rape.  You know the type you rape your pipes to keep them from sweating. The width is perfect for "O" Gauge track and the thickness is about 1/8 ".  After I laid the pipe rape and put my track on it, I used Woodland Scenics Gray Blend Ballast.  At least it elevated my track enough to give it that prototypical look, and the cost was much less than it could have been.   Have fun, remember it is a hobby and should be relaxing and enjoyable.

My entire RR, some 750' of it, is on cork roadbed, which I chose because of it's sound absorbing quality, plus it's relatively cheap compared to some of the pre-formed roadbed.   But the roadbed is set down on 1/2" Homosote, which covers the entire benchwork top.  The Gargraves track is held into place by 1" black wall paneling nails, which extend through the thickness of the ties, the thickness of the cork plus most of the Homosote.  This keeps the sound from being telegraphed down to the plywood table top itself, unlike if screws were used to hold the track down.  There isn't really much force or movement to the track, once you get it bent, cut and in place.  The nails have plenty of "hold" for the track, itself.  In addition, those black tiny nail heads look so much better than track that I have seen that is held by flat head screws.  I only use a very small drill bit in a hand held pin vice to drill the holes through the ties for the nails.

Second layout that I have built using this method of track laying and I wouldn't do it any differently.

Paul Fischer

fisch330 posted:

My entire RR, some 750' of it, is on cork roadbed, which I chose because of it's sound absorbing quality, plus it's relatively cheap compared to some of the pre-formed roadbed.   But the roadbed is set down on 1/2" Homosote, which covers the entire benchwork top.  The Gargraves track is held into place by 1" black wall paneling nails, which extend through the thickness of the ties, the thickness of the cork plus most of the Homosote.  This keeps the sound from being telegraphed down to the plywood table top itself, unlike if screws were used to hold the track down.  There isn't really much force or movement to the track, once you get it bent, cut and in place.  The nails have plenty of "hold" for the track, itself.  In addition, those black tiny nail heads look so much better than track that I have seen that is held by flat head screws.  I only use a very small drill bit in a hand held pin vice to drill the holes through the ties for the nails.

Second layout that I have built using this method of track laying and I wouldn't do it any differently.

Paul Fischer

Paul,

Where did purchase such a large supply of Cork roadbed ?

Use something. You'll get all kinds of suggestions that are great. Cork has been around the longest.

romiller

Flexbed by Hobby Inovations is hard to beat for ease of installation, sound deadening qualities and realistic look.

Good luck with your decision and Happy Railroading,

Don

I also used the foam track bed, but I really don't think it was worth the time. The Homosote bed I put down was far more effective. The cork road bed, or the Flexxbed "Hot water" mentioned above sound like those products will make a real difference. 

George:  I simply used several boxes from my local hobby shop.  In the case of yards, passenger station or engine facilities, I bought 1/4" cork on sheets, rather than use up so much precut roadbed.  The roadbed isn't expensive and I believe that several companies offer it.  When you get it, it comes in strips, 3' long and about 3" wide.  There is a cut down the center that almost separates the two halves and this is cut as a 45o bevel.  When you break the halves apart, you place the flat side of one piece next to the flat side of the other and keep this it the center of your track, under the center rail.  You can't see it and the cork is much more flexible than if you tried to use it in  flat, 3" sections.  The bevel forms the sides of your roadbed and you can later ballast the whole thing.

Paul Fischer

Roadbed raises the track up from the plywood/homosite. We have thick roadbed at the club and I do not like it. I suggest you try a section of track (3 foot?) with the roadbed you choose and see how it look before you go "all in".

David,

Call or email and I'll be glad to answer any questions you may have. 

Dennis Brennan   816-252-4605  dennis@brennansmodelrr.com

Back when I had an operating layout, I did not use any trackbed, mainly because I had an operating accessory based layout.  I had several different layouts through the years though.  Initially, I had a Hi-Rail layout which used Margraves track.  When I started concentrating on operating accessories, I found that regular Lionel "O" gauge track was better suited for this type layout.  

Granted, roadbed can be placed under everything to allow the accessories to be on the same level as the track.  In that case I would use some sort of material to deaden the sound.  At one point I came across low pile carpeting left over from a job I was on.  It seemed to be the best at sound deadening.  

I use grey indoor/outdoor carpet on green painted plywood  (027 track) as seen in this video on the outside loop.  Inexpensive at Lowes or Home Depot.  Quiets the track very well.  Very few screws hold the track in place to prevent shifting, but are not tightened down snug, So virtually no sound transmits to the plywood.   Also is easy to make elevated curves.

 in

Lots of options out there.

Thanks you guys for helping me out!

I have plywood covered by Homosote. I placed my atlas track down on that and used N scale corkbed on the sides of the Atlas track for a lower slope on the sides when it was ballast. I used Dennis Brennan better ballast and it looks fantastic.

I used the Woodland Scenics foam roadbed with tractor Supply chick starter grit coloered with India ink diluted with achohol . This is fixed with Hobby Lobby Matte Mediun thinned and tinted with dark brown paint. Looks great.

I'm using the Woodland Scenics foam roadbed with gargraves with good results.  Use PL375 adhesive to glue the roadbed down to your benchwork -  it makes it peel up cleaner if you have to move it a bit.  I'm using watered down Elmers Glue-All to attach the track to the roadbed.  Works fine for the track, but it's adherence to the wood roadbed isn't great and it tears the foam if you have to relocate it from the wood. 

http://youtu.be/BTTPobc1LJg

The first part of this video I talk about the cork roadbed I used.

I'll play devil's advocate. I did initially use cork roadbed underneath my Gargraves/Ross trackwork (which in itself is unprototyically too tall). That sat upon 5/8" plywood with 1/2" Celotex Soundboard atop it. Cork was glued down onto the Soundboard. The layout was very quiet when in operation. Ballast had been applied but not glued down. I chose not to adhere my ballast. As I started to add some scenery and structures, I started running into problems. The track was sitting unprototypically high. Crossing road levels had to be raised to eliminate the "hump" as it crossed the track. Surrounding landscape had to be built up to make the track look more natural. I wound up removing almost all my cork roadbed. I found no significant difference in sound level. I like the look better with no roadbed.

I was thinking of not adhering my ballast but thought I had read that is not good idea because of it getting into the engine working parts and damaging the engine. How long has your ballast been down? Cape Northern? I grew up in Yarmouthport just off of 6A still vacation there each year.

I would also advocate having a track bed of some sort.

I currently run Ross/Gargraves on an unpainted plywood base that is not elevated.  While it was easier to set up the track and turnouts, the track just sits to low.  It becomes even more apparent that the track is too low, when there are structures placed nearby.  Even though my rebuild, will only be up for five years or so, I will be using a track bed.  The new layout will never have a lot of scenic detail, but I do intend to paint the plywood, use a track bed and ballast it.

Jim

For all my HO layouts (five of them) I always had plywood, Homasote, cork roadbed, and then the track. Now for O-Gauge using Atlas track, it is plywood, QuietBrace, and the track. I bought two boxes of the Woodland Scenic 24-ft flex track-bed, and after staging it to see how it would look, I decided that it wouldn't be worth the trouble - not for over 900 feet of track anyway. 

In retrospect, I am glad I did not use any trackbed, at least with the Atlas track. After ballasting (yes; most definitely glued down *), I believe it looks just right. And when it comes to making grade crossings, it is easier to do with just the track as we normally don't have a lot of room, and the lower track keeps the road angle up to the track not too unrealistic.

* Glued ballast? It really never occurred to me not to glue it down, whether formerly in HO or now in O-Gauge. I do a lot of fiddling around on my layout, and suspect I would be scattering the ballast frequently. ALSO, I have noticed many of my guests touch the ballast to see if it is glued. I guess since it looks as though it were loose, they want to confirm one way or another. Occasionally, they also very carefully touch some of the other ground cover and small rocks, but the ballast appears to be the biggest 'I must touch it' temptation.

Alex

I was wondering where is a good place to buy cork roadbed in bulk. Does someone know of a good place to get cork on the cheap?

radar493 posted:

I was thinking of not adhering my ballast but thought I had read that is not good idea because of it getting into the engine working parts and damaging the engine. How long has your ballast been down? Cape Northern? I grew up in Yarmouthport just off of 6A still vacation there each year.

Ralph,

Generally I would say that it is a good idea to affix ballast. Makes for easier clean-up.  In my case, My track plan has been changing as I learn more about operations and prototypical running. Allot of my ballast has been applied, vacuumed up and reapplied several times. An almost impossible task if it was glued down. I am on the lower or outer cape in Wellfleet.

While it is true that changes are easier to make if the ballast is not glued, it is not that difficult to remove glued ballast, and I have done it several times. I glue my ballast with 50/50 Elmer's white glue/water, and when I need to remove it, I simply use a small bottle with water to wet the area to be removed, wait a few minutes, and use a putty knife and a flat blade screwdriver to remove the ballast. 

Alex

i agree with Alex, above.  I have found that I could re-use ballast that had been glued in place.  Now, my ballast is ground up rubber, like from Ballast King or Brummy's and, when my wife wasn't looking, I put it in a blender and turned that on.  Amazing how the ballast chunks came apart and were ready to reuse.  I could have washed it but i thought the ballast looked a bit more "used" or "weathered" with the dust of the Elmer's glue on it, so I used it just like that.  I'm sure that, if I ever tear up my track again, I'd be able to chop up the ballast chunks and reuse it a thrid time.

Of course, I did wash out the blender before I made our next round of daquiris or margharetas in it!

Paul Fischer

I use roadbed (mostly cork with some foam) on the main lines and industrial spurs. On sidings and in my yard I went without it to achieve a less maintained look, like what you would see at a lightly served grain elevator or in smaller yards of the past.  

When you use track bed, don't you then have to raise (the same amount as the track bed) all of your operating accessories to match the 'raised' height of the car used with each accessory?

Ken

@ken's trains posted:

When you use track bed, don't you then have to raise (the same amount as the track bed) all of your operating accessories to match the 'raised' height of the car used with each accessory?

Ken

If he's using track with the built-in plastic roadbed, that is correct.  Of course, my advice would be not to use that track.

Here is a vote for homasote road bed, Gargraves track and Brenan's ballast. One of many good combinations.

This may seem unorthodox but I did not use a roadbed at all. I was concerned about area around accessories and switches etc., so I opted this method for what it is worth. Using Gargraves I spread my fine granite chick scratch and let the rock fall below the ties and make it's own profile. It made me happy with the result, so to each his own. Pictures of what it was looking like.

I'm in the planning stage of my first (above the carpet) table layout and found this recent thread.  I really appreciate that the original thread started in 2016 and I can learn what was used back then and read what is used currently in 2024.  Forum user “mikey” posted photos of his layout using tubular track with Brennans ballast which is what I’m planning on using.  I’m not sure if his track was standard Lionel or Menards tubular as it shows multiple wood ties.  I’ve read about installing wood ties on Lionel tubular track but haven’t tried it myself.  My current plan is either ½” plywood or ½” homosote over 1” ridged Styrofoam.  I have 8 Lionel 022 switches so I want to use them for economic reasons and just don’t like the looks of using them with Gargrave’s or Fastrack.

Considering track roadbed; I found that Flexxbed is no longer available.  Woodland Scenic’s has a nice product that sounds promising if I decide to install a roadbed.  I want to upgrade my layout after a year or two of running it so I’d like to pre-plan on easily doing this upgrade like removing the track and ballast.

Re: Jeff Haertlein – Nice looking layout without a trackbed.  Did you glue down your ballast and screw down your track or glue it down without screws?  Have you tried screwing down track in homosote?

Thanks to all in advance for your comments.      Bob

Yes I glued it with the 50-50 water and white glue, and before that, spritz first with a bottle mixture of water and drops of dish soap. I was not concerned with the noise, so I screwed my track down onto my 3/4" plywood. I have never tried homosote.

Hi Jeff,    Thanks for your reply.  I was just at my local train hobby store and was looking at the Gargraves wood tie flex track.  I liked your layout and think I'll go with it and stay with my Lionel 022 switches.  When I think about adding wood ties to the Lionel tubular track, it seems like a lot of work and the Gargraves track looks so nice.  I did find out that I'll have to add a spacer under it to match the height of the Lionel 022 switches.  Shouldn't be that much of a problem.

Thanks to all of you for your comments. I have a 14' x 26' layout with an industrial center in the middle and 2 outside loops around the outside. The outside loops start at about 10" above the center section. The entire center section is 3/4" plywood covered with 1/2" homosote. I have a 20' ramp to climb to the upper-outside level, and the ramp, and each of the 2 loops, are on 3" wide homosote glued to 1/16" plywood (for strength) as track bed. The only problem with the homosote is cutting it. If you do it inside, you will create enough dust to last a lifetime. To get my homosote 4' x 8' sheets in my van, I had the lumber yard cut them in half. When they were done, it was obvious they would never agree to do that again. All that said, if you can put up with the mess, homosote it great to cover large plywood tops and makes great track bed. I also bought way too many feet of Woodland Scenics foam track bed, but have since considered not using it because of all of my operating accessories. Lastly, I have at least 40 Lionel switches (all re-conditioned). I have 25 on my layout (all with individual LED numbers and position indicators). Unfortunately they have 2 problems: the switch machine does not lend itself to scenery and takes up too much space; when you attach tubular track to the switch you have to put spacer under the track since the switch sits above the track. I am thinking of replacing the switches with Ross tubular switches.

My $.20----hope some  of this helps.

Ken

@ken's trains posted:

The only problem with the homosote is cutting it. If you do it inside, you will create enough dust to last a lifetime. To get my homosote 4' x 8' sheets in my van, I had the lumber yard cut them in half. When they were done, it was obvious they would never agree to do that again. All that said, if you can put up with the mess, homosote it great to cover large plywood tops and makes great track bed.

FWIW, My 12 x 24 platform is all covered with Homasote, and there was a lot of cutting due to the fact that it has curved fascia. The mess was minimal truth be told.

Straight cuts were done with a utility knife and a straight edge.

Some of the curves were done with a jigsaw with a metal blade.

The edges were all routed with a vacuum at the ready to catch 95% of all the dust.

I agree, a straight edge is the best, but long cuts don't work if you have carpal tunnel. I also tried a toothless blade in my jigsaw, but it got very hot and didn't cut that well.

Ken