10-19-2010, 10:07 PM
Interesting discussion.
I used Homasote for my roadbed this time around instead of cork. I think the Homasote does an excellent job of grabbing the spikes compared to the cork. But that is like comparing apples to oranges.
My method of tacking the Homasote road bed to the 3/4 ply deck was to apply a thin layer of PL Premium Construction Adhesive spread out with a putty knife. I then used drywall screws to hold it in place until the adhesive fully cured, then I removed the screws. After which I painted the entire surface a dirt coloured brown. So far so good after about a year. Half of the track work has been thoroughly soaked during ballasting thus far. The whetting agent plus the 1:1 glue/water mix it didn't seem to hurt the trackwork. Although I think painting of the roadbed and track work prior to ballasting it helped seal it pretty good though. I've found though that its actually pretty easy to take up too. I've modified one section of track and simply used a putty knife to lift the Homasote off the plywood deck. It came up fairly easy considering the PL stuff I used to glue it down. Mind you there was a fair amount of material that had to be scraped off the deck which came off with a bit of elbow grease.
Curious to see some more comments. I still have about a 4 x 8 sheet of the stuff, thinking sometime down the road I might be able to expand my little RR.
I used Homasote for my roadbed this time around instead of cork. I think the Homasote does an excellent job of grabbing the spikes compared to the cork. But that is like comparing apples to oranges.
My method of tacking the Homasote road bed to the 3/4 ply deck was to apply a thin layer of PL Premium Construction Adhesive spread out with a putty knife. I then used drywall screws to hold it in place until the adhesive fully cured, then I removed the screws. After which I painted the entire surface a dirt coloured brown. So far so good after about a year. Half of the track work has been thoroughly soaked during ballasting thus far. The whetting agent plus the 1:1 glue/water mix it didn't seem to hurt the trackwork. Although I think painting of the roadbed and track work prior to ballasting it helped seal it pretty good though. I've found though that its actually pretty easy to take up too. I've modified one section of track and simply used a putty knife to lift the Homasote off the plywood deck. It came up fairly easy considering the PL stuff I used to glue it down. Mind you there was a fair amount of material that had to be scraped off the deck which came off with a bit of elbow grease.
Curious to see some more comments. I still have about a 4 x 8 sheet of the stuff, thinking sometime down the road I might be able to expand my little RR.