To Roadbed or not to Roadbed

Model railroading in all scales and gauges. HO talk welcome :)
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Ypsi
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To Roadbed or not to Roadbed

Unread post by Ypsi »

We started again.. and have now been left with the decision of what type or roadbed to use. We have been using HO scale foam roadbed on wood, but may be looking to change that. From what we have seen on our layout, the HO scale roadbed can leave the tracks higher then desired. I am considering looking into N scale yard roadbed and cutting it to fit, or just laying track right onto the wood, which I have also see work and look good. I think I would prefer to use a roadbed of some sort (foam) but I am not sure if the difference between HO and N scale road bed is enough (or if they even make a sheet of yard roadbed that would work as desired).. Anyway looking for advice from others as I am having trouble finding specific information on this topic online (probably just difficult to search for :lol:)
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Saturnalia
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Re: To Roadbed or not to Roadbed

Unread post by Saturnalia »

You can get "yard" sheets of cork at stores like Hobby Lobby...just have to know the thickness.
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Re: To Roadbed or not to Roadbed

Unread post by hoborich »

Laying tracks right on the wood will be noisy. You will get tired of it quickly.
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Ypsi
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Re: To Roadbed or not to Roadbed

Unread post by Ypsi »

Got some N Scale roadbed to try today, just yard roadbed I will cut, but it should work.. I knew right on wood wouldn't give a good sound, and personally I prefer foam.. I'll lay a couple test pieces and post the results tonight, but I think the new layout will be code 100 track on N scale roadbed
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Re: To Roadbed or not to Roadbed

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One of these days, you'll manage to keep a layout for a whole year! Lol
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Ypsi
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Re: To Roadbed or not to Roadbed

Unread post by Ypsi »

MQT3001 wrote:One of these days, you'll manage to keep a layout for a whole year! Lol
actually the past layout lasted basically summer of 2013 to Christmas of 2014 (which is a record for us :lol:) It was in a "complete state" from Christmas 2013 to Christmas 2014, as in all track down and able to run a full loop.
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Re: To Roadbed or not to Roadbed

Unread post by Saturnalia »

Maybe you should just make one REALLY big roundhouse (like 50 stalls) and engine facilities for steam and diesel. Have a loop around the room and a storage yard...to just show off your modelling abilities with rolling stock :)
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Old Hogger
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Re: To Roadbed or not to Roadbed

Unread post by Old Hogger »

Mainline on HO scale cork and yards/sidings on N scale. Looks pretty good

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Re: To Roadbed or not to Roadbed

Unread post by SousaKerry »

The modular group I was involved with years ago used HO with N on top for mainlines and N scale for sidings and yards. Some of the industrial sidings went down to the 2" Foam baseboard. If you think about it most yards have some grading for drainage unless they are very old and poorly maintained and the rails have sunk into the mud.
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Re: To Roadbed or not to Roadbed

Unread post by Brian_F »

Well heck, now that you have a prototype you just look at the
real thing and work backwards. Next time you're at Milan look
at the track and grading. The old AA was pretty low profile
but still well above the surrounding grade. Of course the NS
is high with deep ballast. If I remember correctly the
southeast connector between the two roads has a pretty good
dip between the AA and the NS. That would look good worked
into a layout. In a lot of cases even when there isn't much of
a ballast shoulder the railroad itself is still on a bit of a fill.
Notice how those roads all go up at grade crossings? Time for
a field trip!
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Re: To Roadbed or not to Roadbed

Unread post by erie2882 »

well i started using foam 1'' i glued it down with "tacky glue" and cut ditches out then flip it over and glue it back down for small hills its great .i then use plaster and glue the bottom around the side or sides or / just the front . for my yards i sometimes use 1/4 pink foam to raise the yard or 1' for the main the only 1/4 for yard it all depends how it looks ? but i still use the foam "ho" roadbed for all the main. i just finished my four track main. it took five years just to do that . i also see most people use code 100 it is very close to the real thing for my yards ill use 83 and for the hidden 100. by using the foam , when i first started the first layer i screwed up the main because when i went to the second level it would not clear the first and so on .but my point is that i was able to rip up the main by prying on the track and recurving it wider then reglued it . to patch holes i use 222 at value home centers i use that alot to just some ideas

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Re: To Roadbed or not to Roadbed

Unread post by AmtrakCSXRailfan »

You should build a modular layout Ypsi. So you can change it all the time lol
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Re: To Roadbed or not to Roadbed

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The Albany & Missinewa Valley has had Roadbeds many different ways since 1973.. The 2013 rebuild has 3/4 in. plywood base with 5/8 in. pink foam and N scale cork road bed. All road beds have been noisy. This last one depends on the locomotive there are a few which are quiet. The latest locomotive A Kato GEVO runs very quiet. bjett
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Re: To Roadbed or not to Roadbed

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bjett wrote:The Albany & Missinewa Valley has had Roadbeds many different ways since 1973.. The 2013 rebuild has 3/4 in. plywood base with 5/8 in. pink foam and N scale cork road bed. All road beds have been noisy. This last one depends on the locomotive there are a few which are quiet. The latest locomotive A Kato GEVO runs very quiet. bjett
I like the looks of your layout, Bob!

Do you have anymore photos of the layout overall and operations?
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Re: To Roadbed or not to Roadbed

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I like the looks of your layout, Bob!

Do you have anymore photos of the layout overall and operations?[/quote]

The AMV is freelance from what ever pop's in my head. L shape, N scale dc. 58 by 64, 31 inches wide. There is a small yard on north end at present. (layout is on sliders so it can be moved around). South end has a grain elevator. East side has a small industrial yard. Stone quarry, storage track and a Petroleum company.( Photo's- how many hairs has a bear got? LOL)
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