Foam

[conrail92]

im still developing my layout design but i was wondering how thick should foam be that will be the base for the layout 2",3"....? and my old layout it what just plywood without the foam layer and i could nail down the track, how do you nail down or secure the track with the foam? cause i dont think nails hold well in foam.

 

[jbaakko]

Glue the tracks down.

 

[conrail92]

i found that out thnx thou, how thick shoul;d it be , the foam that is?

 

[JeffShultz]

Depends - if you've got plywood under it, the 1" thick stuff is fine. The major thing to consider is how much sculpting below tracklevel do you want to do - it needs to be at least that deep.

My first section consisted of a pair of 1 1/2" sheets layered. That way I could cut away a good chunk of the top sheet to get down to some "sub-main" level industry.

 

[conrail92]

k ill haft to figure that, but at the moment i dont thinkg any of my industry goes below main level, im might do a llittel sculpting to make a river, im thinking maybe 2" thiick

 

[hminky]

If the only reason foam is used as the top level of the layout base is to have below the surface features the question is why. A plywood layout base can have below level track level features easily. Just cut away the plywood.

My stream is two and a half inches below track level on a solid tabletop.

Gluing track!!!!!I have enough trouble nailing it down. Glue is so messy and I am so inept.

Just a thought
Harold

 

[JeffShultz]

Glue is actually better than nails unless you are handlaying track (not something for the inept).

Actually, what I use on flextrack is latex acrylic caulk. It dries clear and you have a bit of a chance of being able to pry it up later.

There was an article in Model Railroader about 2 years back on how to use the stuff. I laid about 8 or 9 feet of track in the past couple days using that method.

As for foam thicknesses, let's look at what it looks like:

This is two of the "1 inch" sheets":

This is the "2 inch" sheet:

This is the "2 inch" sheet carved for a creek - I later took the center of the creek down to wood:

This is a single "1 inch" sheet - I'll probably do a bit of sculpting, but it will need to be shallow by necessity:

 

[hminky]

Glue is actually better than nails unless you are handlaying track (not something for the inept).
QUOTE]

Actually I have found handlaying track easier than flextrack it is just more time consuming but the results are better.

Just at thought
Harold

 

[jbaakko]

Very true Harold, but then again some of us to have a needed patience to accomplish that. ALTHOUGH, I am seriously looking at using the CVT tie strips with ME rusted rail, I just need to practice with that barge cement they mention.

Big issue with handlaying, I see, is concrete ties, so if I use ME rail I can switch to ME or Atlas flextrack for the concrete sections.