What do you think of AMI instant Roadbed?

If you put it down,make sure you've planned things thoroughly. Once the track is on it, it ain't coming off of it too easily. The stuff has some amazingly strong adhesive.

Mark=A0Picarro wrote: Am considering using it on a 4x8 Layout, What do you think?

---------------------------------------------------- I used it on my 1'x3' N scale layout when I constructed it in 1991. I like the ease of installation but I was never perfectly satisfied with the profile (shoulders). I like the profile that cork has better. I created the profile by using a wood block and created the 45 deg. angle. Some use a brayer.

You can see the comparison on my ballasting page:

Bill Bill's Railroad Empire N Scale Model Railroad: History of N Scale: Links to over 700 helpful sites:

I tried it, and I hated it. It remains forever sticky, which means that if you don't ballast immediately, things begin to stick themselves to it (like dust, small parts, forearms, etc.). I also did not like the square edge, and it was a real mess to cut, shape, bend, etc. These days, I make my own roadbed out of pine on a tablesaw...

Paul A. Cutler III

************* Weather Or No Go New Haven *************

I wouldn't. There are better alternatives, including plain old cork. The AMI stuff is useful to have around for other jobs, as nothing is quite like it. Pefect for balling up and filling in those weird cracks and holes that seem to plague scenery (usually where someone drilled a hole in the wrong place).

Mark Alan Miller

I used it for the first time this summer on two different layouts. I will probably never use it again and don't recommend it for many reasons.

1. It looks lousy, too wide and flat.
2. It won't stick to things I want it to (like foam base) and sticks like mad to everything else. If one piece touches another don't even bother trying to separate them.
3. One has to be careful to keep turnout throw bars from sticking.
4. The track continues to settle (apparently forever). I've got a couple places where the black gooey gunk is up to the top of the ties.
5. Makes a big mess of tools used to work with it. I was ready to throw away a pair of scissors but then discovered that goo-gone cleans it up ok.
6. Extremely difficult to go back and add feeder wires. You cannot just drill through it. I made a special punch out of a brass tube.