Cork to foam...track to cork...what's your method of adhesion ?

[LV LOU]

Again the reason switching to foam, you are not building a house.

CORK TO FOAM - Tacky Glue with *T-pins holding foam, tacks are too small.
TRACK TO CORK - Same
FOAM TO PLYWOOD OR DOOR - Liquid Nails (One for foam)
TURNOUTS - A drop of TG on the diverging track left or right
and under first few ties before points and after frogs.

If you need to make changes to tear down the layout, a light scrape and
this all becomes history. Small dabs of Tacky Glue is all that's needed.

*Don't be a sucker like I was when I bought WS FOAM PINS. 5.00 for a pack
when Wally has them for 1.98 for more.

Pretty much exactly what I do for track,but instead of Tacky glue,I use Weldbond adhesive/Elmer's 50/50 with water and alcohol.Also,instead of T pins,I use big plastic map pins.I use water based contact cement for foam to wood or foam to foam,I just brush it on and screw it together wet.Holds like iron.I tried the contact cement for cork,it works well,but since I sand my cork and sand in superellevation,I found it was too gummy to work with.If not for that,I'd use it..

[kelticsylk]

I use "tacky glue" to fasten my foam ballast strip to my foam roadbed. I imagine it will work with cork too. It really does a good job of holding things in place and allows the some flexibilityfor tempersture and humidity changes. I fasten my track down with tiny brads tly"and then use ballast to hold it "permently". I glue the ballast down with diluted matte medium which is also flexible Once the ballast is dry I remove the brads.

Excuse the typos I'm using my phone's keyboard.

[Philip H]

Pud,
Lots of good options here.  Personally I use whatever latex caulk Lee is pushing this week to do the cork to foam, and then I use a brown-sih latex caulf ro track to cork.  secure with t-pins.

done and done.

[Blazeman]

I've used both Tacky and Liq Nails on foam and cork bed on foam sheets with identical results. Inevitably, some inspiration strikes a few weeks later and changes are mandated to the design. A utility knife with the blade extended several inches can be inserted under the track to easily and cleanly remove the track. Likewise for lifting the roadbed off the foam sheet.

T-pins are used to secure the roadbed and T-pins and weights to secure the track. T-pins can be purchased in larger quantities at Staples and OfficeMax at much less cost.

Also, if you need to do cutting of foam for transition segments of roadbed to take track to the foam level, I just purchased a Styro Cutter at Michael's yesterday for $22 and then used a AC Moore 50% coupon.

[bill pearce]

Easy one.. Yellow carpenter's glue. Strong, water resistant, sets quick, weigh track down for a half hour, move on to next section.

[davefoxx]

Puddy,

Here's my choices- nothing particularly ground-breaking, as you can see in the foregoing posts.  My preference is yellow carpenter's glue.  I use push pins to hold the track in place until the glue "grabs," which is only ten or fifteen minutes, if even that long.  The push pins that I have conveniently just fit between the rails, so I can make small adjustments to the track as necessary for final alignment.  I use a lot of pins on the turnouts to help straighten and flatten them as much as possible.

The yellow glue bond breaks easy to salvage the track later (or just to make modifications).  Get under the track with a thin putty knife, and it almost unzips.  Ask Ian, he salvaged some track recently.  I feel that yellow glue is less messy than dealing with caulk-type adhesives, and there is minimal worry about squeeze-out showing through your ballast.  Yellow glue is also much easier to clean up than the caulk-type adhesives.  In fact, I lay down a bead of glue and spread it with my finger.  It doesn't take a lot, and the glue wipes right off of your finger with a wet paper towel.

Also, when you wet the ballast with your wet water and adhesive of choice, the yellow glue bond won't break.  That's why I use yellow carpenter's glue rather than white glue to glue the cork roadbed to the subroadbed and the track to the cork.

I'm able to move quickly and am only limited by the number of push pins that I have.  Working carefully, I have been able to install nice-flowing track, like this:



Oh, and if you look closely at the bottom left of this picture, you'll notice a blue line under the outer rail of the track.  That's six layers of masking tape used to create superelevation.  I stair-step each layer back about 1/2" to create an easement into the superelevation.  You absolutely MUST add this feature.  It's so cool to watch trains lean into curves, and your passenger trains will look great.

Hope this helps,
DFF

[DKS]

FWIW, I use no cork, and no glue. All I use to attach track is this:

[Lemosteam]

FWIW, I use no cork, and no glue. All I use to attach track is this:

David, how wide is that roll?  I remember you made a fixture to slice it in half, but what widths did you find that are available?  I'm gonna try this....

[DKS]

David, how wide is that roll?  I remember you made a fixture to slice it in half, but what widths did you find that are available?  I'm gonna try this....

1" wide by 1/8" thick. The fixture I made slices it in half on an angle, just like cork. You can also leave it as it is, and slice down the edges with a knife after laying the track to make the roadbed profile, if you want. The solid tape, however, is harder to curve; you'll need to remove the protective strip to make curves, then replace it to apply pressure to set the bond.

Here's the fixture:



Plans appear in the March 1992 issue of Model Railroader.

[davefoxx]

DKS,

Fascinating!  I take it that with it's 1/8" thickness, that's your replacement for the thickness of the cork roadbed and the double-stick means no glue to secure the track to the subroadbed.  Nice, but, how did this hold up over time and after being subjected to moisture when ballasting?  Isn't the core of this tape also a little "squishy," meaning that the roadbed isn't as solid as if on cork?  That would seem to be the source of the complaints about Woodland Scenics' foam roadbed.

DFF

[DKS]

DKS,

Fascinating!  I take it that with it's 1/8" thickness, that's your replacement for the thickness of the cork roadbed and the double-stick means no glue to secure the track to the subroadbed.  Nice, but, how did this hold up over time and after being subjected to moisture when ballasting?  Isn't the core of this tape also a little "squishy," meaning that the roadbed isn't as solid as if on cork?  That would seem to be the source of the complaints about Woodland Scenics' foam roadbed.

DFF

The tape held up just fine with ballasting--the adhesive is aggressive and waterproof, and makes a good bond with acetal plastics. Years later I could not easily free the track, so it remains robust over time*. The tape is a bit "squishy," yes, but I did not find this to be a problem, especially since much of the softness disappeared after ballasting.

*When I worked for a sign-painting company back in the 70s, we used this same tape to attach a business sign to an exterior brick wall in Princeton, NJ. About a decade later, the company moved, and when we attempted to remove the sign, it took some of the surface of the brick with it. There are a lot of imitators, but 3M remains the champion in this department.

[Mstyle88]

I like this layout, do you have the track plan for it?

[C855B]

David, a couple of questions about using the 3M foam tape...

Did you try a single 1/2" by itself, centered under the ties? Or was that consuming too much ballast?

Did you try gray tape?

I have lots and lots of experience with the 3M gray tape (heavy-duty exterior/automotive grade), and I love the stuff. And it's not as squishy as the white. But I've never tried it for track. I'd be curious about your impressions.

[DKS]

David, a couple of questions about using the 3M foam tape...

Did you try a single 1/2" by itself, centered under the ties? Or was that consuming too much ballast?

Did you try gray tape?

I have lots and lots of experience with the 3M gray tape (heavy-duty exterior/automotive grade), and I love the stuff. And it's not as squishy as the white. But I've never tried it for track. I'd be curious about your impressions.

Mike, I have not tried the grey tape, and I would love to; it sounds like an improvement waiting to be tested. I have used the 1/2 inch by itself, and not liked it; it's not as stable as the 1" owing to the loss of the side areas (the ballast was not an issue).

[Philip H]

Where would ordinary plebs find the one inch gray 3M tape?