Questions on laying down the track

[Motley]

OK I know from doing research, reading forums and such that you:

1.) Using liquid nails glue down a half-inch or so, sheet of construction foam on the plywood.

2.) Then, in my case, I'm covering the foam with the brown and green grass sheeting/vinyl, whatever you call that stuff. Gluing that down with liquid nails.

3.) Lay down the cork-bed and track down, pinning it into place and outline with pencil.

4.) So ready for the final step, the question I have is:

Do I simply nail the track down to the foam/corkbed? Or do I glue it down?

I dunno, to me it seems the corkbed and foam won't be strong enough to keep the nails secure?

 

[redwine_P]

I would glue it down myself i did mine and make sure you used liquid nails for projects . the other ones will eat your foam. just make sure that where you want it cause liqiud nails is hard to get back up

 

[Selector]

Why the foam on the plywood? If your layout is going to be flat, and there is no practical reason why it should not be, then just lay roadbed on the plwyood directly to control noise and to provide a profile for any ballast.

Liquid nails is comparatively expensive, and my one stab at it seemed to not want to dry between layers of foam. It would probably do better from foam to wood. Instead, buy yourself the cheapest acrylic latex caulking you can find. Spead it as thin as mustard.

You are correct to wonder if the nails in foam roadbed will be able to hold curved tracks, particularly tight curves (yet another reason to avoid them in the first place). For pre-radiused sectional track, there is no problem, and really nails would not be helpful...use the same latex caulking and weight track segments with soda cans on their sides atop the rails. However, cork roadbed would do better for track nails.

If you do intend to stick with a layer of extruded insulation foam, then use drywall screws on the outside of the ties to keep tracks in the radius you intend. You can withdraw them later when your caulking has set.

-Crandell

 

[Motley]

OK thanks Crandle for all the helpful advice. I'm heading off to the hardware store right now!!!

 

[UP2CSX]

Crandell, I use the foam so I can have below grade details like streams and ditches. A hal-inch is actually a little too thin. I would go with at least 1" or 2". My raodbes still goes on top of the foam. I agree about the latex caulking though. Works great to hold things to foam and it's cheap. I also would not use a grass mat for the whole layout. Maybe a few areas, but most of it I would do in a combination of ground cover materials so it doesn't look like Astro-turf.

 

[Selector]

Jim, I probably should not be responding to the thread in the first place since I have not been a party to previous discussions and any decision-making about foam.

I have no problem using the foam glued to plywood as long as there is a purpose to that construction. If our friend understands, and intends that he will scour and dig out depressions, and even stack some foam and shape it so that it looks like natural terrain, that would be fine. But I was worried that he had concluded that we all stack a sheet of foam over plywood. Few of us do that unless we want to carve our terrain out of extruded foam...as you know.

Ditto on the grass mat. Spread cheap latex paint that is light tan colour, almost pale, even a light greyish tan, and then sprinkle at least two shades and textures of Woodland Scencis ground foam over the paint while it is still wet. Spread the smallest foam bits first, then add the heavier stuff to form natural tufting. When it is all dry, overspray liberally with a scenice glue. I used diluted Elmer's wood glue...the yellow stuff diluted about six to one.

-Crandell