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Quick question, I see a lot of people making elevations by cutting the lower level and raising the cut pieces of wood to make an elevated platform. I am doing a medium sized layout and just only want one elevation running along the back side. What would be wrong if anything in just stacking foam 3 inches high and laying my track on that in the areas I need elevation, of course shaping the grade in the foam at the proper angle? 3 inches of foam will be enough to have a bridge clear a train on the lower level.
Also I would like to make a mountain with a few tunnels and was thinking I could just make it out of pink foam stacked without having to reinforce it. The scale is HO so the foam is plenty dense enough to support whatever and hold up over time I think.
Should not be a problem at all. I have done it a few times on different layouts with no problems at all.
Thanks that makes life easier.
tankist, funvalleyline:
Where the heck did you get the foam? I tried my local Home Depot while pricing 1x3's and deck posts, and they don't have it. I want to use it on my new layout...
Home Depot hmmm well will keep my comments to myself.
I will be glad to tell you mine came from a construction supply that handles roofing and shingle materials. It is used as an underlayment for rubber roofing.
Lowes handles it in some locations and you can find out where on their site by putting in your zip code. They are 30% more pricey.
Mine is 2" Thick.
Hey there, how do you attach your roadbed and the track to the roadbad for the best results?
Most of the tables are 3/4" plywood with homasote.
The pink foam is glued down mostly with liquid nails and 4" decks screws.
Great stuff was used to fill foam to homasote voids as seen in the first pict on the left.
The roadbed is put down with 2" straight pins from walmart.
Then the track is put down with the same pins as well.
All the pins are counteropposed to keep things from popping up.
Most of the tables are 3/4" plywood with homasote.
The pink foam is glued down mostly with liquid nails and 4" decks screws.
Great stuff was used to fill foam to homasote voids as seen in the first pict on the left.
The roadbed is put down with 2" straight pins from walmart.
Then the track is put down with the same pins as well.
All the pins are counteropposed to keep things from popping up.
Wow, that is interesting. I would think you would want a more permanent solution. I am thinking about using Elmers glue for both the roadbed and track. If I need to remove or work on track I will just have to undercut it to get it off but all that can be done and reworked relatively easy I figure. I tired those little nails in the roadbed but they seem to pull up too easily. I did not try opposing there camber.
well, i do want more permanent solution - i glue the roadbed to pink foam and track to roadbed with adhesive caulk. smoothed out any flows of my foam cutting - as roadbed floats on the caulk and 2 layers of this elastic material probably help reducing noise as well. i don't like liquid nails, when cured it is really hard to cut with knife unlike caulk
Using the 2" straight pins counter opposed I havent had a bit of problem.
I would agree that it doesnt seem permanent however there is 96 feet of track on mainline and the expansion and contraction is more than most would believe if I said and there is a thread on that already.
Once the roadbed is down and the track is pinned it is good. Some places I have done the scenery up to the roadbed and ballasting is done and that ties it all together very well.
Everyone complains about noise and I dont have it. Noise can come from things being to rigid. There are as many thoughts on this as there are people to think.
I know mine works well and I dont have track derailments. It can always be blamed on a quirky car or FOD on the track.
There were times when there were grade problem and the track and be were removed and regrading was done and all put back. This is a very easy process when no permanent adhesives are used.
Using the 2" straight pins counter opposed I havent had a bit of problem.
I would agree that it doesnt seem permanent however there is 96 feet of track on mainline and the expansion and contraction is more than most would believe if I said and there is a thread on that already.
Once the roadbed is down and the track is pinned it is good. Some places I have done the scenery up to the roadbed and ballasting is done and that ties it all together very well.
Everyone complains about noise and I dont have it. Noise can come from things being to rigid. There are as many thoughts on this as there are people to think.
I know mine works well and I dont have track derailments. It can always be blamed on a quirky car or FOD on the track.
There were times when there were grade problem and the track and be were removed and regrading was done and all put back. This is a very easy process when no permanent adhesives are used.
Question and a comment:
Question: I don't understand what you mean by 'counter opposed' - could you explain please?
Comment: As to holding track down more permanently as you note once things are ballasted and glued, if that's properly done, you don't need anything to hold the track down - no nails, nothing. On my current HO layout I use track nails to hold the track down (I'm using Atlas code 83 that has holes drilled in the centers of every few ties); I use a Yankee push drill to bore holes in the cork roadbed and plywood underlayment as my nails are long enough to go through the layers. I then push the nails through the track, down through the cork roadbed and into the plywood underneath. No caulk, nothing else. I then do my ballasting and in a couple of days I pull the nails out and the track stays in place. This works even on curves.
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