homabed

[Zox]

What is homasote / homabed ? - the mind fairly boggles mate!!

Homasote is a pressed-paper sheet good, made in the usual 4x8-foot panel and half an inch thick. It's cuttable with a utility knife, has good sound-deadening properties, and doesn't contain binders.

Homabed is a roadbed product (similar to the common cork or foam roadbed) made from Homasote.

I believe the name is derived from "homogenized," since the product is made of pulped and re-mixed paper, but I didn't find confirmation in a quick look around the Web.

Homasote: http://www.homabed.com/site/890800/page/45030 and http://www.homasote.com/products/440-Soundbarrier.aspx

Homabed: http://www.homabed.com/

[Hiroe]

i'm trying to decide if i want to use homabed or just cut up sheets of homasote myself.  i won't need much homabed considering i will be connecting several pieces of homasote i already have.  cutting homasote in big chunks is dead simple with the razor knife, but doing the arcs and S curves requires the jigsaw and that means a huge freakin mess.

i spend a little more and just roll with it, or a save a little and bust out the shop vac for the next month

Why not just set up the saw in the backyard, and let the wind blow the mess into the neighbor's yard?  ;D

[asciibaron]

Why not just set up the saw in the backyard, and let the wind blow the mess into the neighbor's yard?  ;D

because they put up a 6' high stockade fence.

i use homasote for 2 reasons - deadening of sound, and ease of laying track.  i use spikes to hold down my track, and pushing them in is fairly easy with homasote.

i will never use foam as a foundation for track work.  i'm not a big of it's use for scenery either.  it's a petroleum based product and i don't think i need to have more oil used for silly purposes when other, renewable solutions exist.  factor in that the waste will never decay in the landfill.  i'm not some enviro-nazi, i just prefer to minimize my use of products that are finite.

i know my models are made of petroleum based products, but i have little choice there.  and the amount of fuel to transport them from Asia is massive, again, i have no choice.  MTL is not a choice.

so there you go.  

[kiwi_al]

Thanks for the explanations, we don't have anything like that over here.

[wm3798]

But if the foam is on your layout, it's wasting and decaying at the same rate that you are!

Lee

[asciibaron]

But if the foam is on your layout, it's wasting and decaying at the same rate that you are!

huh?  i ate many twinkies (not code) as a kid, i'm perma-preserved.

[One of One-Sixty]

huh?  i ate many twinkies (not code) as a kid, i'm perma-preserved.

Damn I guess Butterscotch Krimpets don't count then. 

[GaryHinshaw]

I picked up a sample pack of Homabed a while back and mostly liked it, but decided on cork in the end.  In order to make the Homabed curvable, there are slots milled halfway across the roadbed every half-inch or so.  If you're planning to spike the track, some of your spikes will find the slots.  I do like the properties of Homasote though.

[asciibaron]

I picked up a sample pack of Homabed a while back and mostly liked it, but decided on cork in the end.  In order to make the Homabed curvable, there are slots milled halfway across the roadbed every half-inch or so.  If you're planning to spike the track, some of your spikes will find the slots.  I do like the properties of Homasote though.

on top of the homabed i'll have cork.  regarding the slots for the curves, i'm not using holes in the ties - i spike the outside edge of the rails every few inches.  works very well and is difficult to see.

if you look closely, you can see some dark spikes along the rails.

[ChrisNH]

WoW! This stuff is expensive!

$38.40 for 48 feet of 45 degree curvable N scale mainline.. 80 cents a foot before shipping.

I think I will stick to cork..

Chris

[asciibaron]

WoW! This stuff is expensive!

$38.40 for 48 feet of 45 degree curvable N scale mainline.. 80 cents a foot before shipping.

I think I will stick to cork..

i put cork on top of the homabed.  it's the best way to get things like this ballast fill:

[Hiroe]

WoW! This stuff is expensive!

$38.40 for 48 feet of 45 degree curvable N scale mainline.. 80 cents a foot before shipping.

I think I will stick to cork..

Chris

I don't have the price handy, but i know we used a few hundred feet of the O-scale version of this stuff over at Cherry Valley. Eventually we needed more, and couldn't get it for some reason, so one of the members (Jim Wilding for those that know him) actually cut up an additional 300' or so of it out of standard 1/2" 4x8 homasote sheets. Only problem being that the milled bought stuff was 3/8" thick, and not 1/2".

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Jim's back in town?

[Hiroe]

Jim's back in town?

Man, i wish. We need a modeler of his skill (plus i'm tired of being both the President and Secretary most meetings, as the elected Secretary flakes out a lot). But that was almost three years ago. He's still up in Boston, last i saw him.

I tried to call him the weekend of the East Penn Traction meet in May (as he usually goes to those), but his phone went straight to VM, and i haven't gotten a call back.

Bummer, too. That was the weekend i found out that Jimmy Sparkman (who built the Fallon St. Elevated) lives across the street from my new place. Guess who got to help transport it back to his house, and finagle it through the window into his basement? Like i need another scale to play trains with. Psht, i'm almost as bad as you are, ed.

...Although i must admit, i'm tempted to rent a bigger van and drag Sparkman to the Timonium Pandemonium show. The Elevated would probably be extremely well received there.

[Philip H]

Jim's back in town?

Man, i wish. We need a modeler of his skill (plus i'm tired of being both the President and Secretary most meetings, as the elected Secretary flakes out a lot). But that was almost three years ago. He's still up in Boston, last i saw him.

I tried to call him the weekend of the East Penn Traction meet in May (as he usually goes to those), but his phone went straight to VM, and i haven't gotten a call back.

Bummer, too. That was the weekend i found out that Jimmy Sparkman (who built the Fallon St. Elevated) lives across the street from my new place. Guess who got to help transport it back to his house, and finagle it through the window into his basement? Like i need another scale to play trains with. Psht, i'm almost as bad as you are, ed.

...Although i must admit, i'm tempted to rent a bigger van and drag Sparkman to the Timonium Pandemonium show. The Elevated would probably be extremely well received there.

Hum, should us tranction buffs start a gas fund for you?