track underlayment

I have good results with rigid foam (for sculpting downwards), and ceiling tiles on top. With 3 trains running at 20smph or less, my decibel app says it is 65 to 70, which is normal conversation to traffic. I am using Fastrack.

GEM posted:

finally starting to rebuild my layout a year after I moved - my platform is just about finished - does anyone have a suggestion of what to put over the plywood base? Is there a better option than Homosote? Thanks.

Why cover the plywood completely? Why not just use a cork or vinyl roadbed under the track?

I decided not to use Homasote and just used a vinyl roadbed called Flexxbed made by Hobby Inovations.  Here is a picture of what it looks like going down:

The Flexxbed is easy to install and I am very happy with the noise level.  The main reason I didn't use Homasote is because of the time and difficulty involved in cutting all the pieces for my layout. Most of my layout is open grid benchwork, so I would have had to do a lot of cutting. Here is a picture of a finished section of the layout so you can see what it looks like with ballast.

I also like Vinylbed or its successor, Flexxbed.  

George

One nice thing I like about rigid foam is the ability to place accessories, like trees and telephone/electrical poles, into the layout with a little glue and no drilling required.

Thanks for all the replies - Richie C. - can you describe the rigid foam and where do you get it?

hi, you can try Woodland Scenics track bed, i just ordered they`re Bulk pack strips in o gauge, good luck, Phil

John F.  Would you please comment on your mountain construction and coloring please?

Also for JohnF....your work is excellent.  Please post more pics of your layout.  johnA

John and Tom,

Thanks. Here is a link to a thread  with a video and some pictures of my layout. You will find a post about how I created and painted my mountains near the end of the thread.

John

Midwest cork roadbed under Gargraves phantom rail track. Looks good with or without ballast. No need to cover all the plywood. Just tack it down with brads. No glue, ever.

I use the 4' X 8' green/blue rigid foam boards from Lowes. They come in both 3/4" and 1" thick variations. I use liquid nails to glue it to the plywood base and place anything heavy over it until it cures (tools, books, etc.). The boards can be cut and trimmed with a variety of tools but I use a long and very sharp commercial butcher knife. 

After it's installed, I mask off any roads with duct tape and paint the foam board with an earth brown latex paint from Lowes and sprinkle it with yellow and green fine turf as I go along while the paint is still wet, so it adheres to the paint. That gives you an instant ground cover for the whole layout. I then go back and peel off the duct tape and paint the roads a flat black or grey concrete color. Any seams can be covered with duct tape before painting and painted over. You can use a flexible vinyl type joint compound to do the seams, but I find it unneccesary. Once everything is dry, you can then lay your track wherever you like and install your trees, poles and accessories.

Note - I have subsequently sprinkled fine black cinder over the turf in the yard for a more prototypical look.

Woodland Scenics Foambed. Use Foam glue from those big box stores to keep it down. Its salvagable if you ever tear up your layout in the future.

Richie C. posted:

I use the 4' X 8' green/blue rigid foam boards from Lowes. They come in both 3/4" and 1" thick variations. I use liquid nails to glue it to the plywood base and place anything heavy over it until it cures (tools, books, etc.). The boards can be cut and trimmed with a variety of tools but I use a long and very sharp commercial butcher knife. 

After it's installed, I mask off any roads with duct tape and paint the foam board with an earth brown latex paint from Lowes and sprinkle it with yellow and green fine turf as I go along while the paint is still wet, so it adheres to the paint. That gives you an instant ground cover for the whole layout. I then go back and peel off the duct tape and paint the roads a flat black or grey concrete color. Any seams can be covered with duct tape before painting and painted over. You can use a flexible vinyl type joint compound to do the seams, but I find it unneccesary. Once everything is dry, you can then lay your track wherever you like and install your trees, poles and accessories.

Note - I have subsequently sprinkled fine black cinder over the turf in the yard for a more prototypical look.

Richie.C, in the first photo that you posted the color looks almost white, it that the Blue or the Green.

Richie C. posted:

I use the 4' X 8' green/blue rigid foam boards from Lowes. They come in both 3/4" and 1" thick variations. I use liquid nails to glue it to the plywood base and place anything heavy over it until it cures (tools, books, etc.). The boards can be cut and trimmed with a variety of tools but I use a long and very sharp commercial butcher knife. 

After it's installed, I mask off any roads with duct tape and paint the foam board with an earth brown latex paint from Lowes and sprinkle it with yellow and green fine turf as I go along while the paint is still wet, so it adheres to the paint. That gives you an instant ground cover for the whole layout. I then go back and peel off the duct tape and paint the roads a flat black or grey concrete color. Any seams can be covered with duct tape before painting and painted over. You can use a flexible vinyl type joint compound to do the seams, but I find it unneccesary. Once everything is dry, you can then lay your track wherever you like and install your trees, poles and accessories.

Note - I have subsequently sprinkled fine black cinder over the turf in the yard for a more prototypical look.

Richie C. - thanks for the info - I plan on using the foam using your technique- your layout looks great and I may steal a few ideas - I'm curious to know  the dimensions of your layout - Thanks again.

ThomasT posted:

Richie C. posted:

I use the 4' X 8' green/blue rigid foam boards from Lowes. They come in both 3/4" and 1" thick variations. I use liquid nails to glue it to the plywood base and place anything heavy over it until it cures (tools, books, etc.). The boards can be cut and trimmed with a variety of tools but I use a long and very sharp commercial butcher knife. 

After it's installed, I mask off any roads with duct tape and paint the foam board with an earth brown latex paint from Lowes and sprinkle it with yellow and green fine turf as I go along while the paint is still wet, so it adheres to the paint. That gives you an instant ground cover for the whole layout. I then go back and peel off the duct tape and paint the roads a flat black or grey concrete color. Any seams can be covered with duct tape before painting and painted over. You can use a flexible vinyl type joint compound to do the seams, but I find it unneccesary. Once everything is dry, you can then lay your track wherever you like and install your trees, poles and accessories.

Note - I have subsequently sprinkled fine black cinder over the turf in the yard for a more prototypical look.

Richie.C, in the first photo that you posted the color looks almost white, it that the Blue or the Green.

 

Must be just the lighting or camera - here's a photo of some of the board for a new extension I'm working on.

GEM posted:

Richie C. posted:

I use the 4' X 8' green/blue rigid foam boards from Lowes. They come in both 3/4" and 1" thick variations. I use liquid nails to glue it to the plywood base and place anything heavy over it until it cures (tools, books, etc.). The boards can be cut and trimmed with a variety of tools but I use a long and very sharp commercial butcher knife. 

After it's installed, I mask off any roads with duct tape and paint the foam board with an earth brown latex paint from Lowes and sprinkle it with yellow and green fine turf as I go along while the paint is still wet, so it adheres to the paint. That gives you an instant ground cover for the whole layout. I then go back and peel off the duct tape and paint the roads a flat black or grey concrete color. Any seams can be covered with duct tape before painting and painted over. You can use a flexible vinyl type joint compound to do the seams, but I find it unneccesary. Once everything is dry, you can then lay your track wherever you like and install your trees, poles and accessories.

Note - I have subsequently sprinkled fine black cinder over the turf in the yard for a more prototypical look.

Richie C. - thanks for the info - I plan on using the foam using your technique- your layout looks great and I may steal a few ideas - I'm curious to know  the dimensions of your layout - Thanks again.

It's hard to give a figure because of the design. The layout to the right of the tunnel is a double loop, upside down U-shaped layout in a separate room with the right side about 14' long; the crossover about 10' across; and the left side leg 10' long. There was a full wall to the left of the tunnel, which I cut in half and mated up the yard to the left side leg. The yard is 4' wide by 10' long. The outer loop extends all the way around the yard and back and one of the "sidings" actually connects on both ends to the main loop, although I have it switched so I can turn it off and store a train there. I run Legacy, DCS and a small amount of conventional on the layout.

Feel free to "steal away" and ask any questions - that's what the Forum is for.

Recent video attached, although I've since moved the yellow intermodal crane and installed the Lionel loader and unloader where it used to be. 

Very nice - thanks again for sharing!