underlay

I use square of 4mm compressed felt ( about 50cm square) which was designrd as sound proofing underlay for parquet flooring. It fits snugly to adjacent sections, is quite flexible, cuts easily with a sharp knife and can be left unfixed except perhaps at the edges. Where I have not used it due to experimenting, there is a very distinct difference in sound. It is also a grass like green colour. You can see it in the pics I posted when you requested them.

Regards

scoot said the following on 19/03/2007 01:12:

The proprietary expensive rolls :-) Specifically, stuff I bought from Exactoscale years ago, but C&L C1086 is much the same.

Otherwise, and as used more recently, 8mm thick camping mat available from any camping shop.

Dunno if you can get it in Britain, but I use a foam strip used for concrete expansion gaps, commonly referred to as jointex. 20 metre rolls are 8mm thick, in widths from 50 mm to 200 mm, and the 50 to 100 mm wide stuff can be laid down to 450 mm radius without deforming the top surface. I glue my track (Peco) to it using a local brand of white glue called Bondcrete

the same stuff with which I glue the foam to the baseboard.

The foam is called "Abelflex", you may have a different name. A URL which may be helpful for description purposes is:

Regards

Steve Magee Newcastle NSW Aust

In message , scoot writes

Have a look at:

This was mentioned in an earlier thread - perhaps on another group. Much, much cheaper than modelling suppliers.

"scoot" wrote

Why do you need any underlay at all? Lay your track directly on to the baseboard and then use scale ballast chippings if you want a scenic effect. If noise is an issue then lay some thin cork sheet between board and track.

John.

In article , scoot writes

Cork tiles, shiny side down

John

To each his own, but the foam I use is laid directly onot the chipboard base and the track glued to it. It would be a problem securing track directly to a chipboard or ply base, I would normally have used either Pyneboard (or Sundela) between the baseboard and the track, now I just use the foam strip.

Noise is becoming more and more an issue, especially with sound equipped locomotives where you only really want to hear the sound of the loco, not the drumming of the baseboards.

Also, the foam allows for both contraction of the timber benchwork - if you have low humidity or an air conditioned environment - and expansion of the rail due to temperature. Providing track underlay also gives height to the track for a ballast profile, which certainly improves the appearance.

Why not use underlay is I think a better question :)

Regards

Steve Magee

I tried it to begin with but could never get it level - pinned glued or whatever. Went to cork and ballast - never looked back.

Cheers, Simon

I've read horror stories of excessive noise created by using PVA glue to stick ballast to trackwork. What alternatives adhesives can be used?

Bruce Fletcher wrote: [...]

Artist's acrylic medium. It's actually an acrylic latex. Acrylic latex housepaint will do, if it's a suitable colour.

Actually, there's no such thing as "PVA glue." There are many varieties, with different kinds and amounts of additives to control tack, clean up, water and chemical resistance, and such. School glue, textile glue, craft glue are all OK for ballast, ie, soft enough. PVAs made for woodworking, boat building, cabinetry are not - they dry hard.

That being said, I'd advise using a foam or cork ballast former. Glue the ballast former and the track with a water-based (latex) contact cement. Glue the track down, too, using pins to hold it in place. Pull the pins after the ballast glue has dried. A), you don't need them anymore; b), they transmit sound. For maximal realism, paint the track, too.

BTW, it helps to take photos of real track. It's amazing how much real track differs from what modellers usually build (myself included.) :-)

I really like your suggestion of using an acrylic latex glue. I've used the "craft glue" option for gluing ballast to cork road bed, and have not been pleased with the results. Everything was really nice and quiet with just the track and the cork roadbed in place, but once I installed the ballast and used the diluted glue/water/soap mixture as suggested in a model railroading magazine, the ballast all hardened into one big lump that acted as a sounding board, transmitting the motor noise right from the track to the layout - just as bad as if the track was nailed directly to a sheet of plywood.

The acrylic latex glue you suggest sounds as if it would dry a bit more pliable than a typical craft glue, and probably would not be as bad in sound transmission. I'll have to try that the next time I lay some track.

Thanks for your suggestion Wolf.

This is a good source for cork products

The usual disclaimer applies - I have no connection with this company. I'm just a satisfied customer.

Adrian

"simon" wrote

Absolutely, that was my experience some years ago. Also the foam underlay degrades and turns to powder in time - fairly quickly if exposed to bright sunlight (I'm told).

John.

I have had success using the wood based felt strips sold by builders merchants for inserting between concrete sections, comes in assorted widths from (IIRC) about 3 inches to about 10 inches in 8 foot lengths. Its about half an inch thick. I lay this on a baseboard as it is not ctrong enough unsupported. I ballasted with Chichilla sand from the pet shop using 'book binding glue' (flexible PVA), this can then be dyed with watercolour to tone down the pure white of the chinchilla sand. The result was very quiet running, which is what I wanted (having been unpleasantly surprised at the noise from track glued to chip-board with granite ballast).

HTH

Mike

Cork tiles cut to shape, shiney side down, track glued to tiles and ballasted with proper ballast:

The proprietary underlay products turn to dust over the long term. Wouldn't waste my money on the stuff as it looks train-set like anyway!

Graham Plowman

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. Much appreciated.

Shane