I'm now ready to lay track on my new N scale layout. This will be a no-frills shortline and I'm considering not having tracks on a raised roadbed (ballasting will be done). I've seen photos of a few railroads that didn't have raised roadbed on branch lines; the Milwaukee Road branch through my hometown didn't have raised roadbed (and ballast was skimpy). My only major concern is that trains may sound to noisy without the raised roadbed. The layout is being built on a base of extruded foamboard, which is glued to two tables in an L shape. There'll be no fast freights, no "crack" passenger trains. I'd appreciate your input. Thanks.
I built my first two N layouts with the track nailed directly to homasote board. The trains didn't sound loud at all to me, but I've never seen what they sound like on ami or cork roadbed. Foam board might sound louder than homasote. If I were you I would just lay a test piece of flex track on the foam / plywood layout surface, ballast it, and run a test engine on it.
Hi John Foam board unlike homosote will act like a drum for noise.Homosote will absorb some of the noise but rigid foam will reflect it.Why not use a thinner roadbed then your mainline then build up the ground around it to appear flat. The foam roadbed from woodland scenics is fairly thin and does a good job of deadening sound. Regards Mike
My mainlines are built on cork roadbed all the yards and switching are right on the foam board. Since the trains are running real slow in the yards sound isn't a problem!
John: I would add roadbed to the faom board to deaden any sound from the trains which will be more noticeable with the foamboard. Stay cool and run steam....
All the advice I have heard over the last number of months has been to "Yes" use insulating foam board for table tops and roadbed to deaden sound! What happened? I have track glued to raw plywood on one loop, and even that is not noisy, unless I run 30 or more cars with metal wheels at speeds over 50smph. Have they changed the 1" and 2" thick foam?
My new layout is a switching layout so very low speeds will be the order of the day. So I was very lazy and just glued one-eighth inch cork all over the boards. I may cut this away to give a little hint at raised roadbed on the exit roads.
I have tried loads of stuff. But recently, on my new layout I use acustic ceiling tiles 2 x4 nominal 1/2" thick. Turn it over and use the back. It's a tan color and solid. You can glue it down, cut it easly with a knife and no sound penatration. I glued it to 3/8" plywood. Then painted it a dark grey to seal it. I had to experiment with the cork road bed but it came out great. Mike
Watash, I have 1 1/2" foam on my layout as I have said I have no problem with noise! Maybe it is because it is not glued to plywood but right to the 1" by 4" grid work!!
I can tell you that Kato track Not attached To my very old hollow core door Drowns out the local commuter trains At anything beyond switching speeds.
Thanks to all who responded. Interestingly, while most favored raised roadbed, the vast majority of those replying to the same question on the N scale list said raised roadbed isn't necessary. So now I'm really uncertain. I'll try the best answer: use a test portion of the layout for raised roadbed and another for track flat on the foam and see what the difference is. Again, thanks. Trainboard is truely the best place for information.
