# Track roadbed- Cork or no cork?



## flyerrich (Feb 17, 2014)

What are your opinions on roadbed. I have seen a lot with cork and many without cork. What makes this determination for most of you?


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Not everyone uses cork (there are multiple materials available), but if you're going to make a permanent setup then you'll want a roadbed of some type. Track nailed directly to plywood tends to amplify the toy-like sounds of our trains running. The roadbed will insulate those sounds so you can hear the smaller details such as wheels clacking over the track joints. It also helps smooth out the surface for the track and helps make your roadbed look more realistic.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

There's an esthetic reason to use a roadbed. Notice the real railroad mainlines
in your area. Most will have the track somewhat
elevated with 'ditches' on both sides. For these
use a roadbed.

However, yards and spurs are a different animal.
Again, notice how these are ballasted by your local
railroads. Mostly they are somewhat rundown, weeds
growing between the rails, ballast has usually been
washed away somewhat and the rails are very rusty.
No cork or foam roadbed is used for these.

You might find it helpful to use a foam base for
your entire layout. If you plan any ponds, creeks
or rivers, select a 2" foam which permits you to dig
the waterway of your design.

My layout is based in the semi arid Southwest so streams
and rivers were not in my plans. I used a 1/4" paper
covered foam board, available for little money in
the Walmart crafts section or from any Hobby Lobby
or Michaels. I used foam roadbed on it for mains, but
laid the track directly on it for yards and spurs.

Don


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Cork, foam, other, or no roadbed.*



flyerrich said:


> What are your opinions on roadbed. I have seen a lot with cork and many without cork. What makes this determination for most of you?


 Flyerrich;

Shdwdrgn and DonR have covered it quite well. Real railroads need the elevation of roadbed; and the weight and stability of ballast. The elevated track bed and the drainage ditches are vital to protect against washouts. If the roadbed wasn't there to hold the track in place and slightly above the surrounding landscape, then rains would collect on the track and the dirt it sat on, and eventually undermine it. As Don said, some little used sidings, branch lines, and older yards have had little ballast(roadbed) installed in the first place and little track maintenance since. They can be beaten down by weather and neglect until they're pretty flat looking.

On a model railroad the roadbed is just for appearance. We don't usually get much rain inside our layout rooms. :laugh:
Cork, foam, Homasote, and wood have all been used as roadbed on model railroads. My personal choice is Luan plywood, for its firm support and flat surface. However any of the others will work fine too.

Much has been said regarding the "sound deadening" capabilities of various roadbed materials. Well that idea can be true, or false, depending on how the roadbed is installed. The big sheet of plywood on which most model railroads are built, make a very effective sounding board, tending to amplify any vibrations, including sound, that happen on it. 
Cork, foam rubber, and Homasote, are all good sound insulators. So if we glue our track on top of any of them, the sound vibrations of the trains will be isolated from that big plywood sounding board. This will deaden some of the sound of passing trains, as Shdwdrgn says.
That is until we bypass the sound insulating roadbed material by nailing track nails through it and into the plywood, or building a pretty rigid glue and ballast connection from the track, around the roadbed, and down to the plywood. Either of these things will provide a path around the "sound deadening" roadbed. Since nearly every modeler does one, or both, of those things, then the sound deadening idea may not be so true.

The popularity of extruded foam insulation board as a scenery base, and sometimes as a substitute for plywood; changes things. The extruded foam board itself is an excellent sound insulator. So it won't act as a sounding board itself, and when glued between the track and plywood, will insulate the two from each other, Actually, the foam, if firmly glued to the plywood, prevents the plywood from vibrating much at all, further reducing noise. 

regards;

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

I used cork roadbed over one inch foam board for my layout.

When I got ready to ballast my track I did a little test.
I turned off the sound on my locos, I do this often anyways, and 
paid close attention to the sound of just the train. A nice hum of steel 
wheels on steel track, very pleasant.

After I ballasted the main lines I did the same thing and there was a very
noticeable increase in the sound, just as Traction Fan described.
Not unpleasant but louder than before.

I have a 5 foot long bridge section and when the train is on the bridge 
the silence will cause me to look up and see what happened to the train.

Magic


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## D&J Railroad (Oct 4, 2013)

The speed of your trains will amplify the sound of the wheels over thin plywood. I used 3/4" plywood on my entire empire, including the yard. I have cork road bed over the plywood for the entire 6.5 scale miles of double track and then homosote over the yard. Just the clunk sound of wheels over track joints.


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

As was already noted aside of aesthetics cork will really help quieting thing down. Running on bare plywood can be quite a guitar.

Interestingly enough last night I was researching economical railbed for hidden staging area. Found cork is available by the roll in various thickness front various craft stores such as Michael's . And then as I was looking at floor underlayment cork it occurred to me - floor underlayment! 
I have good amount of vinyl "foam" underlayment leftover from flooring the basement. Gave it a quick try, as expected I'd does deaden sound some. Will be using that in staging.


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

I use 1/4" foam with milled Homosote on top. The 1/4" foam in theory reduces the noise transmission to the rest of the layout. Milled Homosote is in strips with bevels similar to cork, but a little more expensive.


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## riogrande (Apr 28, 2012)

Cork for tracks outside the yard. In the yard, I lay all the track on a sheet of Homasote.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

To transition from roadbed to 'ground-level' track, I lay 1/4" foam on top of the thicker base foam, and rise the terrain up to it.


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