Dear Gormo, I have seen some of your YouTube items on the TV via the Apps button, which is how I found out about this site, and I notice that you use carpet underlay on at least part of your layout. I had considered using carpet underlay purely on the basis of waste not want not, however I felt it was perhaps too soft. Once upon a time the idea was to use canite ( sugar cane waste once common as school pinup boards ) which used to be available as 6 ft x 4 ft sheets but now only available in huge sheets only by request. Cork track bed was then overlayed onto the canite and you had sound deadening, or alternatively lay the track directly onto the canite. The downside was thinned PVA when used to glue down the ballast could cause the canite to swell. Hence the next idea was to lay cork strip directly onto your baseboard but this tends to be very noisy which is a distinct disadvantage if you have sound equipped motive power as the drumming track tends to drown out your electronic sound ( unless you wound up the sound in which case a visit from the local EPA inspector re noise pollution becomes a distinct possibility ) . Currently the use of closed foam underlay from either TrackRite or Woodland Scenics is the current trend. By the way closed foam in rolls 65mm wide x 10 mm thick by 10 metres long are available from builders merchants, this is used between concrete slabs and walls or verandah support timbers to prevent the concrete from cracking same due to expansion on hot days, is an alternative to TrackRite. ( 65 mm equals 16 ft in 4 mm scale ) . An alternative to PVA is to use double sided carpet tape between the track and the track base, then add ballast, tamp down and only a small amount of watered down PVA then needs to be used. This has the advantage of making it easier to lift track for reuse, as PVA sets like concrete and damage to track whilst lifting is a high risk. Rogue Manufacturing / EFD Simply Glues ( no connection ) sells a Ballast glue which is pre thinned and dries soft and rubbery and is probably preferable to thinned PVA. I am interested in your comments please, Regards, Echidna
G`day Echidna, First of all apologies for not seeing this post when it was posted. My time for some this year has been used in other ways and not so much on the railway forum. I am very much a part time participant at the moment. My approach to underlay was based on sound transmission. The carpet underlay became available from a house three doors down the street as the neighbours were re-carpeting their home. It seemed ideal to me and testing of same revealed that to be true. Plus it cost me nothing. I am a budget railway modeller and recycler. The method I used to attach it though is not reversible. Most of my track is second hand anyway and I don`t intend to lift it. I used a hot melt glue gun to glue the foam rubber to the underside of the track and then I used building adhesive to the underside of the foam rubber to glue it to a pre-printed full size track plan on the baseboard. The track was pinned in place until the glue set and then the pins were removed. The pins can actually transmit sound through to the baseboard. The foam rubber carpet underlay is 8mm thick and I guess you would call it soft, however the sound deadening qualities are excellent. A friend of mine asked me once why my trains seems quieter than he was used to.? I intend to use the usual dilute PVA and waterspray method to set ballast into the track. All the methods you have mentioned have their pro`s and con`s and they are all good in their own ways. I don`t sweat the detail or try to follow set systems religiously. I just find out what works and go with it regardless of popular opinion. Obviously tried and true methods are excellent and I do use them but sometimes it pays to look outside the box and try something different. If it doesn`t work.....who cares????....it`s only a model railway. At the end of the day, anything you`re not sure about should be trialled. Set up a mini test plank....a length of timber......and try different methods. It will soon become obvious as to which is the best way to go for you. http://www.clickGormo
