One side was fat, the other thin ... now no more?

[mmagliaro]

I used Midwest cork for years, but was always frustrated by the fact that one side was narrower than the other and had ragged, more vertical taper to the edge.   I would trim the edge to make it taper more correctly, which also narrowed the overall total width of the roadbed, but that was okay with me.  The split between the two halves was no longer the center line, but I still glued the strips down with the split along the center line because that made it easy to put down and the changes in radius and location of the track were small enough that it didn't cause any real problems.

But after my PRR layouts (circa 2008 or so), I never used it again because of these issues and because it was a little too thick for my taste.

[CRL]

I stopped using cork roadbed a long time ago.

I use latex construction adhesive to glue the track directly to my styrofoam base - minimum of 1-1/2” (about 20 n-scale feet) of styrofoam over plywood. Then, using a very sharp 3” Xacto blade held at a reasonable angle of repose, cut the foam (\) to whatever depth desired to model however much relief you want to model, up to a 3” embankment of a “fill” of a section of cuts and fills common in rolling terrain. Then just pop & carve away however much foam needed to expose the embankment. You can carve away all the foam to the plywood to form a flat base for rivers and creeks. If you want deeper ravines, add more styrofoam and lower the plywood baseboard.

Using this method cures the plywood plains look of way too many modules and layouts and eliminates the need for cork roadbed. Or, add the cork roadbed if you want, but it’s not necessary.

[robert3985]

Another typical Google glitch - the 2nd photo from the top is not showing up (I see the dreaded gray "do not enter") sign.

Peter, I know how biased you against googlephotos, but it's always MY glitch, not theirs.  Once again I corrected my error and you should be able to see "Photo - (2)"

[robert3985]

In all my years in N, I've never seen cork roadbed that wasn't symmetrical.*

*To be honest, I only ever used cork when helping other modelers on their layouts. Me, I always "rolled my own" roadbed from double-sided foam tape...

http://davidksmith.com/modeling/wrn2-3.htm

I tried the double-sided foam tape method once, but when I started sanding in superelevation, it caused me all sorts of problems!       (I simply could NOT resist!)

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[peteski]

Peter, I know how biased you against googlephotos, but it's always MY glitch, not theirs.  Once again I corrected my error and you should be able to see "Photo - (2)"

Thanks. I wasn't blaming anybody or anything - just mentioning that there was another Google photo problem. 
As far as their photo service goes, who knows what they will do in the future. Will their photo hosting links work? You yourself pointed out several problems (didn't they mess up the Picassa links, to mention one of those foobars)? Anyway, this thread is not about photo hosting. Going back to the cork roadbed . . .

[peteski]

Funny, I don't remember any cork roadbed that was symmetrical. I seem to recall a side that was always a little bit narrower (not that it ever had a negative impact of any type). That narrower side has always been the "away" side as it typically had the rougher-looking beveled edge to it, if you just tear them apart like I always did.

I think that we still don't know exactly what OldEastRR meant.  "Thin and fat" seems to imply the thickness (not width).  Did he actually mean "wide" and "narrow". 

[OldEastRR]

Apparently I've been the only one during the last 50 years who got irregular cuts of cork roadbed. In fact Atlas roadbed was like that too back in the '60s -- you split the cork strip and one side is always a bit narrower than the other. I always put them side by side back to back and one obviously was wider than the other. And all this time I was the only model rail getting every defective cork strip ever made!!
However, my curse of only getting factory reject cork strips has now been broken -- both of these half strips are the same width.
Yes, you can curse cork roadbed but it does deaden sound. Laid on top of homasote which is then glued to plywood always guarantees silent running -- I've run layouts with track directly on top of extruded foam or plain plywood and I can always "hear the train a-coming" as it vibrates the surface under it. Does DCC/sound mask that noise?

[wazzou]

I have always used cork and/or double sided tape at a minimum because I feel the noise of a train on track attached directly to foam is a little to loud.

[robert3985]

Apparently I've been the only one during the last 50 years who got irregular cuts of cork roadbed. In fact Atlas roadbed was like that too back in the '60s -- you split the cork strip and one side is always a bit narrower than the other. I always put them side by side back to back and one obviously was wider than the other. And all this time I was the only model rail getting every defective cork strip ever made!!
However, my curse of only getting factory reject cork strips has now been broken -- both of these half strips are the same width.
Yes, you can curse cork roadbed but it does deaden sound. Laid on top of homasote which is then glued to plywood always guarantees silent running -- I've run layouts with track directly on top of extruded foam or plain plywood and I can always "hear the train a-coming" as it vibrates the surface under it. Does DCC/sound mask that noise?

Actually, the quietest subroadbed/roadbed combination ever conceived was plaster subroadbed, poured in forms and held in place with risers on L-girder benchwork.  I don't remember if it had cork roadbed or not, but I read about it in an ancient MR article when I was still a teenager many moons ago!  For my mainline subroadbed, I use splined Masonite, glued together using yellow carpenter's glue and clamped until the glue is dry.  This is also held in place with select pine risers glued and screwed to the L-girder benchwork of the modules/sections of my portable layout.  On a couple of modules which form a long yard, the subroadbed is 3/4" plywood with cork roadbed...and you can hear the trains rollin' on the modules with the plywood subroadbed, but when they hit the modules with the dense splined Masonite subroadbed...they go dead silent.  Yes, DCC sound will mask the normal running noise that the engines make, but it can still be intrusive, especially on Styrofoam, which acts like a drumhead or sounding board.  DCC sound sounds much better if your trains are running silently.  Attaching track to a tabletop made of any material such as Styrofoam, plywood, vacuum-formed Styrene with amplify the noise generated by the engines and cars running on it, so for the most silent running, building a layout on a tabletop of any sort is not ideal.  Here's a photo of my splined Masonite subroadbed under two mainlines and a center siding on one of my transition sections when under construction...Midwest Cork Products N-scale Cork Roadbed of course!

Photo (1) - Splined Masonite subroadbed, L-girder benchwork, N-scale cork roadbed...silent running!


Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[DKS]

...especially on Styrofoam, which acts like a drumhead or sounding board.

True, until the scenery is done, which deadens the sound very effectively. My last full-size layout was all foam, and it was indeed very loud, but once I added structures and scenery, it went nearly silent.

[MK]

True, until the scenery is done, which deadens the sound very effectively. My last full-size layout was all foam, and it was indeed very loud, but once I added structures and scenery, it went nearly silent.

For some of use, it may take years after the tracks are laid that we've added enough structures and scenery to deaden any sound. 

[Doug G.]

I have actually rarely used "roadbed" because it seems to make a layout look smaller from the rather exaggerated vertical aspect . Besides, here in grainger railroad country, if you're riding down a highway and there are tracks next to it, if you look over at the rack, it's just as often even with the level of the highway as it is higher.

Doug

[Chris333]

I used to lay track right to foam and carve a profile into it, but lately I like using cork because foam is so un-even and I can smooth cork easy. I use an at least 24" steel rule to check for dips and bumps. Sometimes I patch big areas first then lay cork over it.

Also my cork has all been equal sides 

[davefoxx]

I like using cork because foam is so un-even and I can smooth cork easy. I use an at least 24" steel rule to check for dips and bumps. Sometimes I patch big areas first then lay cork over it.

Also my cork has all been equal sides 

^ This.

[OldEastRR]

For my mainline subroadbed, I use splined Masonite, glued together using yellow carpenter's glue and clamped until the glue is dry.  This is also held in place with select pine risers glued and screwed to the L-girder benchwork of the modules/sections of my portable layout. 
Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

Well, if someone has the time and equipment to cut the Masonite sheets into uniform strips, make jigs or something to form curved sections, glue, then form them into pre-made curves and clamp it all together to let it dry ... I assume you can't make long splined straight sections already set with glue curve easily to any bend you want. I would imagine changing a route already set in splines would be a chore, also.
I'm lazy.