Hi Gang I had this idea about using cork gasket material as a road bed base. Am I the first one to consider this? Have any of you tried 1/32nd cork gasket material as road bed material if so how does it perform? I appreciate any thoughts Pro or Con.
I used a roll of cork from staples. It is intended for bulletin boards. It's cheap, <$5 a roll but it's not that easy to work with. Mostly because it curls up, if you have it as just a sheet it may be different. The other disadvantage is that it isn't contoured for the road bead. It depends on how much effort you want to put into it.
I would use it as just a sheet, track directly on foam is too loud for me. Thanks for the information.
I used a large 4' x 6' roll of cork from School Outfitters for my east yard instead of road bed. Contact cement was used to glue it down, then painted flat black, it worked great.
I think the operative question is "How thick?" I am using N Scale cork roadbed for a yard area right now. The issue for me in a yard area always has been, and still is, how to get a level area from the outside of the rail throughout the yard area. Between the rails is not going to be a big problem if one uses very thin styrene sheets to just below trip pin depth.
The sheet cork used for gasket making has in the past come in varying thicknesses. And going back a few years somebody out there marketed sheet cork roadbed, not the black stuff from Woodland Scenics, to cut your own custom pad for switches etc. And as far as rolling up it simply needs to be wetted to get rid of that tendency when sold as a roll.
You can find it by simply searching on line the name "cork gasket material" As far as the beveled edge. This is not critical for me however I have never been impressed with the model railroad cork anyway. In my experience the bevel has only one good side (on the top of the cut) that is when the cork is separated at the split only one side of the split is a clean cut. I assume at 1/32nd the bevel won't be critical but that is one of the things I am hoping to learn from this post. In regard to sound absorption qualities I am not sure that after the track and roadbed has been covered with ballast and glue that there is any sound absorption efficiency. Anyway thanks for the comments so far and I am really looking forward to more, maybe some of the well seasoned model railroaders will have add their insight on this subject.
Getting older and senility is a great thing. However I did finally remember the source of the cork roadbed in rolls. However it appears that it is no longer marketed that way and it was about ten years ago that I last saw it. http://www.midwestproducts.com/stor...-adc6-b8d9410ed46f/1/Model_Railroad_Cork.aspx Those were the folks that used to have the rolled stuff. They also had cork pads designed for turnouts in N scale, however I don't see them listed except in HO. They do have 3 and 1/4 inch by 36 inch pads in 1/8th inch thicness. However given the price I think the craft store, wally world, or an auto parts store is probably a better buy. One last note. I have used HO roadbed on occassion when a wider and higher profile is needed. And one can also lay down N scale roadbed on top of the HO roadbed for a high profile biult up area.
Not long ago I got three 24x36 inch sheets of .8mm cork from Jelinek Cork Group. They shipped flat so no curling issues. You might try googling them. Craig www.bluford-shops.com
If you want a lot of it, try a flooring store. Sheet cork of various thicknesses is still available as a flooring material. And a lot less expensive than buying in small quantities.
It's been around quite some time. I recall using it many years ago. I cannot speak to current prices, but it used to be fairly cheap. And it worked very well for me.
Joe, I'm not sure I'm "seasoned" but I am relatively old...does that count? My most recent purchase was a huge sheet of 5/32 (4mm?) thickness from an Internet supply house, a little thinner than I would have liked but okay. The sound attenuation qualities are a function of thickness (the thicker the better) but the sub-roadbed construction materials do matter a lot. In my staging yard I used 1/2 inch plywood over 1x3 framework and it does tend to amplify sound; think of musical instruments. I'm not sure thin gasket material will make much difference.... Good luck, Otto
I've used it in sheet form glued down with wood glue for a small staging yard on the hidden side of my layout. I use code 55 track every where but the staging which is code 80(all atlas track). Using regular cork strip road bed under the code 55 brings the rail height almost equal to code 80 on the 1/32 sheet cork giving a nice level transition from the 55 to the 80.
I use gasket cork to create lower sidings and cardboard shims to transition between regular cork roadbed mains. This creates a more realistic siding roadbed profile. It is pretty easy to use, just cut into strips with a paper cutter. The thinner gasket cork can tear more easily, and it is not much savings as you think it would be. If you could find larger sheets that might be different. You can find gasket cork in automotive stores.
