Poll: Do you put foam directly on open benchwork?

You can, provided you have enough support that it doesn't sag; the distance between supports will be determined by thickness of the foam (rigidity), and the expected weight (scenery, trains) it will support.

Brian

I have. 4" beadboard on 16" centers. Time will tell if that was a mistake. It's OK for 2 years so far.

Jay CNS&M North Shore Line - "First and fastest"

For scenery only, yes.

For track road bed, NO. Use thick, good quality plywood for that or it will be a mess over time in my experience.

My layout is over 12 years old and portable. It has traveled 9000 plus miles to shows in that time. It is built on 1 1/2" blue foam. The foam panels are inserted into 1" X 4"pine frames that are 2' X 8' in size. There are (2) 1"sq. cross pieces 36" from each end along the 8' length. Track and scenery are fine with no problems. It has been stored at below zero and over 100 degrees in a closed trailer. Still no problems.

Dave Decker

MrRathburne wrote:

I used 4" blue foam on pine open grid benchwork with Liquid Nails. Layout's been up for over two years (and seen two scale changeovers) with no problems at all.