Roadbed choices: what to go woth?

I would really suggest using cork, as nothing else can give you such a nice profile edge, sound deadning properties, and ease on creating curves. I dont like AMI at all, it sometimes has a tendency to unstick on foam or wood, it doesnt "curve" well, and the stickiness not only holds your track down, but hairs, dust, ground foam and mushes too easily, creating unrelatistic holes, let alone a rough surface for tracklaying. It also does not have the slope thats on cork, its just a flat edge. I guess the only pro to it as its just stick and go, not good if you want good and serious tracklaying.

The Woodland scenics foam stuff is not all that bad, but its not actually what you could consider a roadbed, its more of a sub-roadbed, something that would go along more with benchwork construction then tracklaying. The most simple form put, its a foam riser. If you are going for a hilly terrain, this could save alot of time and work, but a "flat" layout, it has no use. The foam is constructed in a zipper shape, so it doesnt provide a stable base for track. I suggest if using Woodland's foam, to put cork on top securing it with latex Liquid Nails and then the track, gluing it down also. I suggest going with whatever wood benchwork you are using, building a solid platform for cork, and using that. I'd like to hear other peoples opinions on these products as well.

Mike Antkowiak

 

Hmm...I never noticed any smell , so that isnt a worry. The problem I had with using the AMI was partly because it was old (about 2 years) and the tackiness had disappeared a bit. The wood you are going to use it on needs to be completly clean, especially against saw dust. I strongly do not suggest it on foam. It just doesnt stick that well to it (keep in mind this is my personnel experience, so dont let it be the deciding factor). If you want some proof on this, read Model Railroaders Wisconsin Central project back in I think 1998. They said although it was not such a bad product, they had problems of it coming off, especially on the edges of the layout's modules. You mentioned having ballast stick to it easiler, and that brings up a point. I paint my track using a can of Floquil Rail Brown and other colors after I lay the track down. So of course the paint covers up the tackiness and hence it will be like normal ballasting again. I really suggest maybe picking up a roll of the stuff and experimenting it. If you dont like it, you can still use the AMI for roads, a filler material, and for other stuff. Theres one other thing to use I forgot to mention, and thats homosote, but I've had very limited experience with it. Anyone else?

Mike

 

Colnel, what brand of track did you use with those Peco's? Was it Peco as well or Atlas?
P.S. I really like that after shot!

 

I like cork too. I say yes to glueing it down with either liquid nails, wood glue or even white glue. But I NEVER, I REPEAT, NEVER glue my track down before ballasting. I drill pilot holes for track nails to hold the track until ballasted. The glue in the ballast is more than enough to hold down the track. I do leave track nails at critical stess areas, but all the others come out after the ballast is dry. That's how I do it, but the choice is yours.

[ 23 April 2001: Message edited by: Maxwell Plant ]

 

CORK

 

AMI roadbed..

First the Wisconsin Central layout in MR did use roadbed of AMI, and they did have problems with it. Due to sloth I am not going to try and find the letter from the president of the AMI company (which was in the letters to the editor section of a latter MR), but I will say, according to the AMI guru, the MR folks had installed it wrong: they did some thing different, but I can't remember what.

Secondly, I know having a smooth surface is important with AMI. So if you are using particle board or rough plywood, I would paint the track plan with a polyurethane (clear - so I can still see the lines to lay the track line) to improve the surface adhesion.

Third, AMI is moldable. So if you don't like the squared off corners, you just flatten them with your fingers, but.....if you are going to ballast anyway...so what.

Fourth, if you buy it - buy it for the next scale up. It is cheaper to buy HO and cut it in half for N, than to buy N scale AMI. If you are doing a yard, you might buy higher than HO and just lay it flat.

Fifthly, AMI is not a new product. I have a buddy who won an award in the January issue of 1980 MR for modeling building - Mike Chandler. I was showing Mike the AMI product just last week and he was asking me how long it had been around. I told him atleast fifteen years that I was aware. Well, I was re-reading the Jan issue of the 1980 MR last night, and wouldn't you know it, I found in one of the mail order companies, a listing for AMI - so it is almost 21 years old, that I know of now. But for some reason, it is only recently it has come to consciousness in the hobby.

The Reid brother's famous Cumberland N layout has been using AMI roadbed for around 15 years now. It is past the testing stage.

Once it is laid, I would NOT let it "sit" without ballasting for a long time as it will hold the dirt.

This isn't a rabbid defense of AMI. I am using it because I used MDF for my benchwork and it doesn't hold nails or pins very well (I know about predrilling holes). So I wanted a product that could go down easily without having to pin it while the glue tried, or worrying about nails. I was orginally going to go with woodland scenics foam (the dark flat stuff - not the risers) as it is cheaper here than cork.

Of all the people I have met in the hobby, Mike Chandler - the person I mentioned above - is the most talented man I have ever met. He is one of those disgusting creatures whose every effort is excellent - drives me nuts with envy...lol. His benchwork would put a kitchen cabinet maker to shame.

He maintains that the noise issue in HO with track on plywood is greatly over blown. He has never used any roadbed for his hand laid tracks and turnouts. He uses a higher grade of plywood - spruce - because he finds it takes spikes easier. I was just running on his layout, which is only partially completed, and didn't hear any problems with noise. He does a beautiful job of ballasting, so you would never know there is no track bed.

If I had an option to use any road bed I wanted, I would use whatever was cheapest. Some folks buy large sheets of cork and cut their road bed from that. Dont worry that it isn't contoured properly, ballasting hides it.

[ 23 April 2001: Message edited by: rsn48 ]

[ 23 April 2001: Message edited by: rsn48 ]

 

AMI roadbed or a product like it has been in use since before WWII, I'll have to dig in my old MR's and find the adds for it, but the method of aplication hasn't changed nor have the reasons for using it.

 

I haven't used Woodland Scenic Road Bed...but I almost did. But my MDF won't take the pins so the shape is held while the glue dries. If you uses the little block of wood demo that comes with the scenic display, the woodland scenic gets higher marks than cork for deadening sound. Since it was cheaper than cork here, that is what I had originally intended to use. Since it is only road bed, I can't see any problems with it.

 

I am using AMI instant roadbed on my new layout and I am really sold on it. It is on Pink foam baord but I did paint it with a flat latex paint before I started doing anything else tot he layout. No problems so far. I do ballast it as I lay it or at least within a day or two because of the dust problem mentioned in one of the earlier messages.

 

Another beveled edge roadbed is made by
HomaBed. See their webpage at
http://www.homabed.com

They start with Homasote building board and
machine it to track roadbed profile. This is almost impossible to do for the average modeler (Homasote is normally sold in 1/2"
thick 4 ft x 8 ft sheets and makes a terrible mess when cutting it. Its advantage is that it holds track nails well.

In the thinner HomaBed form, you may be better off gluing the track down. Our N club
has had good luck gluing N flex track to cork using either white glue or white latex acrylic caulk.

Due to the density/weight of Homasote or HomaBed, its use may not be practical for modelers living outside the USA due to likely very high shipping costs.

DB

 

Flex-track will sometimes "lift" out of AMI when the track is under stress, like at a tight curve. But, one or two track nails pushed in at the stress points will fix that. The nails are held firmly by the AMI.

I have found that a thin (~1/4") strip of black vinyl electrical tape placed (sticky side down ) under switch throw bars works great to prevent the throw bar from sticking to the AMI.

AMI is uncured Butyl rubber developed during WWII ... for what that's worth

Hank

[ 24 April 2001: Message edited by: Hank Coolidge ]

 

You are correct Hank, we first heard of "French Rubber" for use in cleaning up the "lead" (graphite pencil lead) dust and smudge left on our Blue Print vellum drawings when drafting. It has many uses besides just for road bed. Bucron car tires were one of the uses, but died out for their planeing or surfboarding effect on water and ice at speed. They had traction on hot road surfaces like glue though. You can roll long rods of the AMI stuff like modeling clay and mount houses, then mold the bottom edge to blend with the yard. If you wear rubber gloves, the stickyness is not contaminated by the natural oil on your fingers. You can "stand" people on it, just lots and lots of uses. For some things, it is better than Play-Doh.