Does heavy extruded foam have cookie-cutter ability ?


M

MHinLA

Guest
Hi.
Planning an bucolic L shape shelf, switchback, industry/small town in/ switching menagerie.
If I cookie cut a 2.5-3% ramp down 5-6" from upper main line into lower Indus. scene, can I get away with foam also cookied on top of 3/8" ply, cookied under it, having same single track profile, about 4" wide, about 5-6' long emanating from upper trailing-point switch (TO) in main ?? OR, it may not be worth it and just do cork on ply for upper main line and then transition to 0 shoulders somewhat down ramp a ways from TO (Yes. I know the 3/16" cork-top to ply-top match-up transition trick)..
My guess is skip the foam. Either way I won't be using spikes into ply this time !! Bent enough of em doin' that creepy gandy dance !!
Much Thanks, Mark 🛤🏭

P.S. Please, no graphs, pre-set method charts, or pics; Just like your personal take on this. No biggy...I've been in this a L O N G time, guys and gals...
 
from personal experience, narrow strips of two inch rigid foam has -about- the same bendability as the same width strip of good 3/8 plywood ...
not sure if this is the answer that you are looking for, but??
I bent foam, and foam over plywood on a 2.5 degree slope anyways ..
 
Sounds about spot on, Toots. Thanks..What's interesting is that, I'd think, having never done foam, that 2" is considered narrow. I'd have guessed 1/2" would be, and 2" too rigid for C-cutter-ing anything....
 
Toots. Thinking I'll go 3/8" ply and form cookie cutter ramp with it, because it also likely will have to begin a superelevated 90 deg Rt. turn down into 1st switch of Indus area. (It and upper switch in main will not be installed over any humped area of subroadbed, that's for sure !)..
After ply is in I'll decide about foam. It attracts me mainly because of ease of making drainage ditches and poking foliage into it. But this foam would be no thicker than 0.5 -1". (Do they have extruded type of that width ?)
Anything deamed big enough to be called a mountainside would be screen and plaster, anyway...Maybe create a short tunnel over upper main track somewhere or a truncated highway bridge, front to back...
 
If you're in LA, extruded foam board may be hard to find. It is hard to find around here in North Texas. Home Depot and Lowes will order it for you, but they will not commit to a delivery date that might be reasonable. You would know better than me for your area.
 
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