Rolling Stock is really noisy after gluing track down.


I glued part of my track down over the weekend and today I put some rolling stock on it and pushed it back and forth and now it is REALLY noisy on the glued back. It also has a foam roadbed. Any ideas?
 
basically you just acoustically coupled the track to the foam via the glue. The glue conducts sound quite well. which glue did you use?
 
I use latex adhesive caulk between cork or WS foam rubber roadbed and my extruded (pink or blue) foam benchwork and also to adhere track to the cork / foam rubber roadbed. Seems to dampen sound pretty well.
 
Ok ill try that. How good does it stick once you lay it down? The power grab as soon as I put it down, I was able to move it and basically stayed in place how I wanted it.

Also on top of the foam roadbed (this is my first layout, so wasnt sure how to do it) I just put a thin layer over the entire top of it, since the ballast will be covering up the rest anyways. Should I just put a small thing down the middle, or does it matter if I do the entire top of it or not? Finally lol, if I use the caulk, does it hold it in place good enough for me to form it the way I want it before I weigh it down? Thanks!
 
What I did was get some drywall screws, then a thin layer of latex adhesive caulk on top of the roadbed, then placed the screws touching on the outside of the rails, but in between the ties. Then let the caulk dry overnight.
 
I use caulk over cork. I lay a bead down the center of the track, then use a spatula to spread it into a thin layer. I place the track and hold it down with push pins between the ties. Depending on the caulk used, you probably have about 10 minutes to fuzz with the track to get it aligned just right.
 
yep sounds like the noise is helped from the glued down track. you may be able to sound deaden it by adding rubber to the under side of the layout to absorb the vibrations.

I used WS rubber road bed on pink foam. Pretty quiet even with all metal wheels rolling along.
 
Extruded foam is noisy, and if you use EZ-Track or similar stuff, it's really noisy. I have MDF spline roadbed with a thin smear of latex caulk between it and the ties of my flextrack. That combination, MDF splines and the thin layer of caulk between the ties and the MDF, is very quiet.

Dual densities of materials placed tight against each other do a good job of dampening vibrations, with some materials doing better at certain freqs than others. It works with sound vibrations, too. Cork between plywood and the ties does a pretty good job. However, hardened ballast that has been liberally impregnated with a hard substance for gluing it will turn the whole thing into the fret of a guitar. The plywood acts like the sound board or body.

Apparently (haven't done it myself...), slightly diluted matte medium stays softer and is really good for sound dampening.


-Crandell
 
Ok its still rather loud, but not quite as loud as the power grab was. What I have is a 4x8 MDF board. And my track I have it raised up off the MDF about 5 inches, onto cutout MDF board to make road for the track to lay on.
 
Two things may change the noise for the better. Adding scenery up to the raised roadbed, and also ballasting the tracks and gluing it with matte medium, say Mod Podge from Wally's. Don't get the gloss medium! You want the matte medium...Mod Podge makes both. Dilute the medium maybe three parts Mod Podge to one part water, and add a drop of liquid dish detergent. Use the solution by dribbling it over your groomed pre-wet ballast (use the 70% isopropyl alcohol mix from any department or drug store to do that). You don't want so much of it that it runs everywhere...just enough to penetrate the ballast...go by gut feel, and then walk away from it for a full day. Let it dry. When it is set, it should not be as hard as white or yellow glue, and will help to reduce the noise of the tracks.

It should, anyway.

-Crandell
 
Ok ill try that. How good does it stick once you lay it down? The power grab as soon as I put it down, I was able to move it and basically stayed in place how I wanted it.

Also on top of the foam roadbed (this is my first layout, so wasnt sure how to do it) I just put a thin layer over the entire top of it, since the ballast will be covering up the rest anyways. Should I just put a small thing down the middle, or does it matter if I do the entire top of it or not? Finally lol, if I use the caulk, does it hold it in place good enough for me to form it the way I want it before I weigh it down? Thanks!

I'm jumping back in late here and I'm not sure I understand all the questions, but caulk has held well for me. The caulk dries slowly enough that you can tweak the track.

I thought I saw you asking about track nails though so perhaps you've gone a different route. (Track nails will not hold in foam alone.)
 



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