# Best glue to use for gluing track to cork road bed?



## NorfolkSouthern1068 (Sep 25, 2016)

Would like to know what would be the best glue to use to glue track to cork road bed. Track nails came with my layout package from Atlas,but since I'm using foam insulation board to help deaden noise even more,the track nails will be too short to protrude through the foam insulation board. The track is sectional track w/ Atlas snap switches. Another concern I have is that I have a feeling that the wires for the switches/turnouts on the opposite side of the layout from where I plan to mount my control panel may be too short. I see two options I can use,...either operate the switches manually,which can be done(and I may use this option),or buy more wire of the same gauge,try splicing them together,and run them over to the control panel. This is my first layout,and it's 4x8. The Atlas track plan I went with was "The Trunk Line". HO Scale,and Code 83 track.


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## santafealltheway (Nov 27, 2012)

cheap latex caulk, spread a thin bead spread out flat with a putty knife. When doing the cork you have time to do the two strips (be sure to offset the ends for smother surface)

although i'm unsure if it will melt the foam, I used track nails on my cork.

I'm sure someone else will chime in


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

Yep. DAP Alex Plus with silicone does a good job, but I found the stuff that goes on white and dries white to be poor. Maybe just a bad batch...dunno. The stuff that goes on white but dries clear is very good and easy to use. Or, as stated, get the cheapest acrylic latex caulking you can buy. 

Easy does it. Very thin layer is all you need. Use track nails and soda tins on the tracks to hold it down and in the correct geometry along the centerline, and remove all of them once the caulking sets up.


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

basically yes to above post .. I used DAP latex adhesive, spread in a thin layer to hold track directly to high density foam ,, worked fine .. I used push pins to hold alignment, and small pieces of 1 1/2 by 5" steel plate [3/16" thick] to maintain pressure for twelve hours to let it cure properly .. the version of DAP that I used went on white, and turned clear when it had cured, good visual indication ...
Using a somewhat flexible adhesive will also help reduce noise more so than the rigid white glue, but is not as readily removed if you decide to change something later on


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

I need to pay attention here...
I'll be laying track in a month or two, and I'm clueless. hwell:

BTW, are twist-on wire joiners okay for splicing?
Or is soldering the only way?


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

The caulk that dries flexible is your best bet. Reason for, the ties are plastic and glues need to soak into the surface that you are glueing together. The hard drying caulk will hold for a while, but after months or maybe a year of slight pressure from track cleaning and just running trains, the hard set glue will begin breaking loose from the track. Ya get to use up what you had left over from the first application.
The added attraction of flexible setting caulk is you can adjust your track after laying it down then lay the remaining caulk tubes on the track for weight.

For wiring, solder if you can. Wire nuts are merely compression connections. Corrosion from humidity can work on it over time and produce a very good insulator for the flow of electrons. Also, accidental tugs on the wires from working near them can loosen those wire nuts just ever so slightly but not enough to see when you are looking for the broken circuit.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Wire connectors*



LateStarter said:


> I need to pay attention here...
> I'll be laying track in a month or two, and I'm clueless. hwell:
> 
> BTW, are twist-on wire joiners okay for splicing?
> Or is soldering the only way?


 LateStarter:

First, I'm guessing that by "twist-on wire joiners" you are referring to wire nuts. These are the bright plastic cone-shaped things with the narrow end of the cone flattened and vertical ridges on the outside. Inside is a spring that wraps around the twisted ends of the wires. These wire nut connectors are most commonly used in the junction boxes 115v AC house wiring; though they come in many sizes some of which will handle much smaller wire. (A picture would indeed be worth the proverbial 1000 words, but I ain't got one!)

Most of us think about wiring as something we want to do as little of as possible, and only once!
That being the case, the most reliable connection method available should be used. That method is soldering. Wire nuts, in my opinion, would not be as reliable. They do work, but they have also been known to fail over time. The wires, and the spring connecting them, can corrode and cause intermittent connections. These are the very devil to find.
At one time I worked for Western Electric, the construction & installation branch of the Bell telephone Co. They specified that each, and every one of the millions upon millions of connections in their system be made in one of two reliable ways. First choice was with an electric wire wrapping tool, onto special pin connectors. This was the faster, and easier, of the two approved ways. Each of these wire wrap connections had to be tested as soon as it was made. The test was to grab the newly connected wire, and pull it as hard as you could. If the wrapped connection moved at all, then it had to be soldered. It's easy to see why they were so rigorous. No one wanted to go through the process of trying to find an intermittent connection in a huge room filled with who knows how many millions of them!
Soldering is my method of choice. I have also used 3M "scotch lock" "suitcase connectors". These are very reliable, and don't require soldering. They are also bulky and expensive in large quantities. There are other brands, but the 3M ones are the highest quality & reliability, so I only recommend that brand.
If you don't know how to solder, it's a skill well worth learning for any model railroader. You will need to use it many times, and in many different ways, in this hobby. There are online videos to show how it's done, if you don't already know how.
The same would apply to track laying methods, so you might want to do a bit of web surfing before you start putting down track.

Regards;

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

NorfolkSouthern1068 said:


> I have is that I have a feeling that the wires for the switches/turnouts on the opposite side of the layout from where I plan to mount my control panel may be too short. I see two options I can use,...either operate the switches manually,which can be done(and I may use this option),or buy more wire of the same gauge,try splicing them together,and run them over to the control panel. This is my first layout,and it's 4x8.


I also have a 4x8 layout with Atlas Snap Switch turnouts. For wiring, I ignored the short 3-wire segments that came with the turnouts. Instead, I ran 2-conductor 22 gauge wire to the two activation screws of each turnout. The middle screw is for the return. I wired that separately and tied all of the return wires to a bus line under the table, then ran just that one wire directly back to the return terminal on the power supply. This reduced the number of turnout connections in the control panel by 1/3.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Another vote for DAP adhesive caulk. I use the gray stuff.

In addition to soldering and wire nuts, Fahnestock clips or terminal blocks also work for making wiring connections.


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

Soldering under a layout is a bit of a chore to me, so I've been looking at alternatives. I've used the Wago lever locks and they are convenient. The levers are a little stiff, but it sure beats trying to solder upside down. The second type is great for daisy chaining a track bus and putting in a connector to a feeder. Their Wago Lumi-Nuts 873-902 2 Pole Luminaire Disconnect Connector. Both are on Ebay.







The big advantage to these connectors is that they take 20 to 12 gauge wire so one size fits all.


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## MikeB (Feb 11, 2016)

That's an interesting connector. May look into those when I get started on wiring.


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## santafealltheway (Nov 27, 2012)

LateStarter said:


> I need to pay attention here...
> I'll be laying track in a month or two, and I'm clueless. hwell:
> 
> BTW, are twist-on wire joiners okay for splicing?
> Or is soldering the only way?


I wouldn't use them as a permanent, however, they are GREAT for getting multiple strands twisted together so you can solder them without one popping off as the other two stick.


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## NorfolkSouthern1068 (Sep 25, 2016)

santafealltheway said:


> cheap latex caulk, spread a thin bead spread out flat with a putty knife. When doing the cork you have time to do the two strips (be sure to offset the ends for smother surface)
> 
> although i'm unsure if it will melt the foam, I used track nails on my cork.
> 
> I'm sure someone else will chime in


I can still use my track nails even with using the foam insulation board,and the cork road bed?


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## Chip (Feb 11, 2016)

NorfolkSouthern1068 said:


> I can still use my track nails even with using the foam insulation board,and the cork road bed?


I have been still using the nails to hold the track centered on the roadbed and let the glue do the work where there is nothing for the nail to bite into, just making sure the head of the nail is low enough to not interfere with the rolling stock as you would if nailed into wood.


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## TomFromMo (Aug 9, 2016)

Based on recommendations from another thread I started using foam friendly construction adhesive to glue my cork roadbed to the foam top on my table. It has done a fantastic job. Only now that I realize I need to make some changes to the layout do I wish I had used something else. It is a bear to remove the cork roadbed once the adhesive dries. Also, I have damaged a lot of the roadbed in the process. I'll be trying the caulk route when I lay down the next section.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

NS1068 -- you can use track nails temporarily, but foam doesn't hold them well.

And, as Tom observed, construction adhesive may be a "too permanent" solution... although if I'm re-laying section of track, I generally consider the roadbed disposable. Sometimes you can salvage it but not always.

For my money, gray DAP caulk is the way to go. Use it sparingly -- a 1/8" bead spread out with a putty knife of plastic card is more than enough.


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

NorfolkSouthern1068 said:


> I can still use my track nails even with using the foam insulation board,and the cork road bed?


If you choose to use track nails for the roadbed put the nails in at different angles not straight up and down.
When I did mine I put the nails in the center at a slight angle and the ones on the outside of the roadbed at 45° angle in the bevels.
Hold very strong but easy to remove if needed and your roadbed is reusable.

With Atlas track the nail holes are in the center and will most often line up with the split in the roadbed and 
won't hold all that good so what I did was to either offset the center a bit to get good cork for the nails or 
would take a 0.33 drill in a pin vice and drill some off center holes.

When you ballast the track all this will be glued in.

With my "No plan" plan track plan I did a lot of redos and this system worked great for me.
I'll bet I relaid at least 40% of my mainlines.  Some times more than once.

If you're confident in your track plan than CTValleys suggestion is a good way to go. 
Even white glue works pretty good and with some water will be easy to remove if needed.

Magic


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## Chip (Feb 11, 2016)

santafealltheway said:


> I wouldn't use them as a permanent, however, they are GREAT for getting multiple strands twisted together so you can solder them without one popping off as the other two stick.


If they use them in houses in a "permanent" mode and I myself have seen them in places where they have been for DECADES, why would it "fail" if used in a layout, nothing extra special about wire once it is designated as being used in a layout. I'm using house wire, why can't I use the connectors that are CODE? Is the code "wrong" is my house going to BURST into FLAMES because they used wire connectors that are "unaprooved" for LAYOUT use in my HOME?


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

Wire nuts are a very secure way to connect wires together. Their just a little big and ugly and work best if they are not subject to movement. If your using solid 12 or 14 gauge wire and twist the wire first then I see no problem using wire-nuts, other than if you need to take them apart for trouble shooting then its a little more complicated that a real connector or screw terminal.


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