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Found this cruising around the net. Anybody heard of it or tried it? Looks to be cheaper then cork roadbed.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.vinylbed.com/">http://www.vinylbed.com/</a><!-- m -->

Loren
I've never seen it before. It looks promising. I think I would send in $2.00 for a sample and try it out, before committing to a case. Also, check to see if they sell it at wholesale or retail to individuals. If the wholesale price is only to resellers, it may not be cheaper than cork. If they sell it at wholesale to anybody, then there is no such thing as retail because a hobby shop won't buy it for the same price that an individual customer can get it for by going direct to the manufacturer.
There stuff looks neat, and i would be willing to try it out. I like the idea of the beveled edges on the subroadbed butting up against each other for 2" track centers and then adding another roadbed ontop.

But i am a little confused on there pricing, the stuff seems really expensive. How many feet comes in a pack of 3/8" roadbed (item #316110)? (not wholesale) It says $54.00 bucks, and im assuming this is for the mainline, but how many feet come in this pack? $54.00 plus 3/16" subroadbed (item #373200) at $55.50? Man that sounds expensive unless you get like 100' in each box.

Woodland Scenics Roadbed Rolls can be bought for around $8.00-10.00 bucks most anywhere and that comes with 24' of trackbed.... I still see WS ahead here in the pricing category, but this new stuff looks much better and more realistic/prototypical.
On rereading their price list, it would appear that "wholesale" and "list" are misnomers. They may have a special reduced price list for multiple case lots for hobby shops. A case comes with 12 pieces each 35 inches long for the "wholesale" or case lot price. If you want less than a case lot, the individual pieces are available at list price divided by 12 for each piece. For instance a case of ho road bed 1/4 inch thick is $25.10, but less than case lots will cost $3.77 each piece. In addition you need to add shipping for your area. Shipping is $8.00 or 10%-15% depending on where you live whichever is greater. A case of the roadbed shipped to either coast will cost an additional $8 for shipping because 15% of 25.10 is only $3.77. If I read the price sheet correctly, a single piece of roadbed will cost $11.77 shipped to either coast. I don't know the exchange rate for our Canadian friends.
Well that makes a little more sense if the "wholesale" price is really what we would pay for a pack of 35 12" strips. Its still a bit expensive but i might be willing to give it a shot. I would want to do the branchline roadbed with the single track or double track subroadbed (depending on if its a single track or double track in that area) for most of my M&ET trackage i think. Then i would use the siding roadbed onto of the subroadbed for all the sidings on the M&ET.....

Russ do you think that would work?
And just so im understanding this right,

the Mainline, Branchline, and Siding roadbeds come in different thicknesses right?

Well can you use a Mainline thickness strip with a subroadbed strip? would that be prototypical? I guess im just confused on the whole Mainline, Branchline, Siding thickness and the subroadbed strips. What is used with what and how do you know what thickness the mainline, branchline, and siding is on there price sheet?
For stuff like road bed I've always stuck with what works. This place <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.cchobbies.com/track/Midwest%20cork.htm">http://www.cchobbies.com/track/Midwest%20cork.htm</a><!-- m --> is the best prices I've found especially when ordering track or roadbed by the box.
Trucklover Wrote:And just so im understanding this right,

the Mainline, Branchline, and Siding roadbeds come in different thicknesses right?

Well can you use a Mainline thickness strip with a subroadbed strip? would that be prototypical? I guess im just confused on the whole Mainline, Branchline, Siding thickness and the subroadbed strips. What is used with what and how do you know what thickness the mainline, branchline, and siding is on there price sheet?

Josh, they have tried to offer various thicknesses of road bed product to simulate various types of prototypical track. I used to work in the area around the U.P.'s Washington Blvd. yard and Santa Fe's Hobart yard. If you look at Hobart yard, the mainline has Santa Fe's typical pink ballast, the yard is gray ballast and the ballast for the yard is probably 6 inches lower than the mainline. I did some work for a small grocery warehouse across the street from Hobart that had an out of service siding out back. That siding was laid right on dirt with no ballast what ever. If you are trying to model a prototype location like Kurt is doing with NW 58th Street in Miami, you just have to study pics of the prototype to know what was there. In the course of the thread on Kurt's model of Miami, Shortliner Jack linked to google maps of the area. If you look at the pictures accompanying the maps, you will notice that the prototype has just a thin layer of ballast down on top of the typical Florida sandy soil. The pictures show that Kurt modeled it exactly as it looks! In short, you need to start with the prototype if you are modeling a prototype location like the ME&T you want to do. Manufacturers make generic scenery materials, but the modeler has to figure out how to use those materials to accurately model a prototype scene. The manufacturer has identified the thickness of the ballast to be suitable for typical mainline ballast, yard ballast, or siding and spur ballast, but typical does not mean that it will match the prototype you want to model.
Can't answer any questions, but that stuff looks surprisingly similar to some stuff I bought many moons ago for a mat to stand on while working in my darkroom. It was very sturdy, and didn't seem to retain odors, if I spilled developer on it.
Russ Bellinis Wrote:Josh, they have tried to offer various thicknesses of road bed product to simulate various types of prototypical track. I used to work in the area around the U.P.'s Washington Blvd. yard and Santa Fe's Hobart yard. If you look at Hobart yard, the mainline has Santa Fe's typical pink ballast, the yard is gray ballast and the ballast for the yard is probably 6 inches lower than the mainline. I did some work for a small grocery warehouse across the street from Hobart that had an out of service siding out back. That siding was laid right on dirt with no ballast what ever. If you are trying to model a prototype location like Kurt is doing with NW 58th Street in Miami, you just have to study pics of the prototype to know what was there. In the course of the thread on Kurt's model of Miami, Shortliner Jack linked to google maps of the area. If you look at the pictures accompanying the maps, you will notice that the prototype has just a thin layer of ballast down on top of the typical Florida sandy soil. The pictures show that Kurt modeled it exactly as it looks! In short, you need to start with the prototype if you are modeling a prototype location like the ME&T you want to do. Manufacturers make generic scenery materials, but the modeler has to figure out how to use those materials to accurately model a prototype scene. The manufacturer has identified the thickness of the ballast to be suitable for typical mainline ballast, yard ballast, or siding and spur ballast, but typical does not mean that it will match the prototype you want to model.

Thanks for the tips Russ Misngth Looks like its back to Google Maps Street View and Windows Live Search hehe Misngth
Vinylbed is not a new product. It is an interesting roadbed that has a following. I have not tried it myself (have been tempted to try a sample), but a friend has. He even spikes handlaid track into it. His report is that Vinylbed is made out of recycled rubber bits, is reasonably firm but offers better sound reduction than cork, and doesn't dry out like cork. He said he would occasionally curl spikes when he hit firmer bits of rubber in the Vinylbed. The latter is why I have stuck with Homasote myself, despite the mess of having to cut it.

just what I have heard

Fred W