I'm building a 4x8 HO layout. 1x4's, with 1/2 plywood. I can't decide what to do between my plywood and track. Should I lay cork roadbed then track, or foam sheeting then track. Or should I lay foam sheeting, cork roadbed, then track?
I don't use foam but use cork straight to the plywood. I've found that foam (if you are considering the soft stuff) to be prone to end up with undulating track.
Thats kind of the way I'm leaning. This is a project with my boys(5 and 7). I'm covering the ply with a layer of green fleece to get some color and get my track down quickly. I'm sure that too much scenery construction will lose their interest. It will start as a hodge podge of business. Maybe as they get older, we can build some real scenery together, and concentrate on a theme.
I have 1" homasote on my plywood and attach the track directly to it. My railroad is a flat industrial switching theme, so I don't need built up right of ways that track on cork winds up looking like. Otherwise in the past, I had used the cork roadbed method and attached the cork directly to the plywood base and it worked just fine. Chuck
I don't think you'll be slowed down much by putting down a layer of 2 inch foam board between the plywood and cork roadbed. It will give you a little more flexibility to add some small landscaping features below grade without having to rip everything up and start over. You might not do anything for two-three years but it could save you time later and won't hurt you now.
