Raised roadbeds in the yard

[TrainNut]

Hey guys, ...roadbeds...
Usually, yards are flat and you can't make out any difference in height whereas the mainlines are elevated.... usually. Rather than laying cork for each line in the yard, I'm thinking it would seem easier to just lay down one big sheet. Does anybody make sheets of cork for this purpose?
On the flip side, it might be easier to go ahead and lay down the cork for each line and then fill in the in-betweens with wall joint compound.
Thoughts?

[MountainMan]

Cork sheeting is available at some hobby shops and art supply stores.

[MasonJar]

You should be able to get sheets of cork at your local big box hardware store. Alternately, you could lay the track right on your subroadbed (plywood, foam, whatever). This approach would give you a height difference between the yard and main, sometimes seen on the prototype so that runaway cars are less likely to enter the mainline "unassisted".

Andrew

[nachoman]

Hey guys, ...roadbeds...
Usually, yards are flat and you can't make out any difference in height whereas the mainlines are elevated.... usually. Rather than laying cork for each line in the yard, I'm thinking it would seem easier to just lay down one big sheet. Does anybody make sheets of cork for this purpose?
On the flip side, it might be easier to go ahead and lay down the cork for each line and then fill in the in-betweens with wall joint compound.
Thoughts?

I have seen it in office supply sotres. It actually comes in a roll shrink-wrapped with plastic.

[eightyeightfan1]

Midwest Products makes a corkshee(Walthers #476-3030).Measures 5"w x 113/4"l.
About $9.00 USD.
But..it is probably cheaper at an art supply store. Something to make bullentin boards out of.

[ezdays]

I tired the "fill in" approach. A total failure and a real fun thing to clean up and start over again. I actually had everything ballasted before I ruled in favor of starting over again. And yeah, you can probably get sheets of cork at Staple, Office Max or even Hobby Bench.

[viperman]

I have each line in my yard on subroadbed, should I pull these out, and either lower the tracks to the foam, buy a sheet of cork, or leave it as-is??

[MasonJar]

I have each line in my yard on subroadbed, should I pull these out, and either lower the tracks to the foam, buy a sheet of cork, or leave it as-is??

Up to you! But if it's already there (and especially if it's ballasted) and working well, I vote for "leave it".

Andrew

[viperman]

I have each line in my yard on subroadbed, should I pull these out, and either lower the tracks to the foam, buy a sheet of cork, or leave it as-is??

Up to you! But if it's already there (and especially if it's ballasted) and working well, I vote for "leave it".

Andrew

Its there and wired (partially), but not ballasted

[doctorwayne]

I have each line in my yard on subroadbed, should I pull these out, and either lower the tracks to the foam, buy a sheet of cork, or leave it as-is??

You could leave it as-is, or fill in the low areas with the same material that you used for sub-roadbed. Use joint compound or patching plaster to fill any gaps, and your ballast will cover-up the patch job. Don't use joint compound to fill the low areas, though - applied too thickly it will crack severely as it dries.

Wayne

[TrainNut]

Don't use joint compound to fill the low areas, though - applied too thickly it will crack severely as it dries.

Wayne

Too bad there's no prototype that resembles severely cracked wall joint compound!

Perhaps if the rail yard has experienced a flood lately, you would see these same type of conditions.
All in good fun!

[viperman]

Don't use joint compound to fill the low areas, though - applied too thickly it will crack severely as it dries.

Wayne

Too bad there's no prototype that resembles severely cracked wall joint compound!

Perhaps if the rail yard has experienced a flood lately, you would see these same type of conditions.
All in good fun!

[dwight77]

Hi:
We bought sheets of 2' x 4' cork from Home Depot for $16.00. It comes in a roll. We used it on our N-Trak modules in our yard. It is approximately 1/32" thinner than standard N Scale cork roadbed. While it is not significantly lower, it is lower and it was a LOT easier to install when you have 8-10 parallel tracks in a yard area. We painted it a darker brown, laid the track, added ballast, added weeds, and had a good looking yard.
dwight77

[Russ Bellinis]

Another source would be an auto parts store. They used to sell cork as gasket material. You might need to check a local independent store or a NAPA, I would not be surprised if the big chain diy stores don't bother with gasket material.

[scoobyloven]

well if you have a old cork board laying around just take it out of the frame and use it it is the same size as road bed. i found 10 of them at the good will for about 2.00 for all . and they where about 24" x 30" so for a nscale layout their is a whole yard in about 2 of them . or you could use the thick card board from a frige, or stove box just glue it down and lay your track and if you wanted to you could use plaster over it to make little mounds of rocks. but you can just balast right on to the card board i did this on a old layout and it look great .