Model Railroading > Homosote vs. whatever

I've always used Homosote sealed with a 50/50 mix of elmers white glue and water & have experienced NO issues.  For handlaid track I think this stuff is the best - holds spikes real well & has a long maintenance free shelf life.  Has been part of our club layout for 25 years with few issues.  Some guys are trying to talk me into vinyl roadbed or cork, but I find this stuff difficult to spike into and really trying for handlaid track.  Gluing track down to this stuff just doesn't seem good for the long term to me.  I suppose I'm just old school, but nothing looks as good as handlaid track to me.  Just curious what some other opinions are out there...

I handlay on midwest cork roadbed.  Because I'm cheap and also I've never really tried Homasote.  I also think handlaid track looks more realistic to my eye.  I know some detractors can say that the (oversized) spikes only every 5-10 ties look like staples and detract from the look, and I can see their point to a point.  When I look at my layout, I see the ties more than those spikes, and  I think that the variations in color when I sand down the stained ties for spiking (after ballasting) look much better than anything plastic and loads of time and effort painting plastic ties can offer...I'll take the tie details over spikes I can't even see anymore! (I will switch to S scale once Rapido starts making things in 1:64)!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/15 19:43 by DrLoco.

I stain the ties two different colors of brown them mix them randomly to get that effect.  I agree nothing beats the look of handlaid even with small spikes every 5th tie & nothing is better for handlaid then homosote - in my opinion of course...

Depends on your usage. 

For my flat, urban switching layout with handlaid and commercial track, I went with big rolls of cork that is sold as floor underlayment.  

I found the homosote sold in my area to not be perfectly flat. It was also going to be more expensive, and messy to cut. 

Plain white ceiling tile.  Light-weight.  Messy but easy to sculpt.  Seal the open edges with wood glue or paint.  Switched to this from homasote many years ago.  Might cost less and be easier to find too.

When the ties are glued down good, the ties seem have more than enough holding power for handlaid track.

Jeff Eggert



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/15 22:12 by blueflag.

I have used foam core board with good results. It's cheap and holds nails well.

sphauler
http://ryansp4449.wix.com/spmodeling

Posted from Android

I'm in On3 and have been hand laying sugar pine ties onto cork over plywood. Never had problems with the spikes not holding in the cork or the rails going out of gauge. Tried homasote, but found it expensive and messy and far more prone to fluctuations in humidity (I don't seal cork to prevent this as you need to do with homasote).

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Except for the Homabed transition ramps, I've gone to cork as don't really see the added benefit for the price.

Some time ago, we had this discussion.. I bought Homosote over 40 years ago. My late friend, Norm McCreey (spelling?) was a Long-Bell rep. and he told me to wet up homosote on both sides. Then let this dry, completely. As of today, I have had NO problems yet! wag216 (Topeka, Ks where it is humid in the summer and dry in the winter)

Dear 4thdistrict,     what part of the country you located in.....dry,humid,volcanos,sharks.  Like some of the other post i prefer homsote but have had a few set backs.   thanks  robert ny
 

Paint homosote both sides with 50/50 mix of elmers glue and water - let dry over night.  Once sealed like this, meteorological conditions just don't bother it.  We would sand it till level prior to treating with the glue mix.

Are you making the comparison with cutting your own roadbed from 4x8 sheets of homasote? I was making my cost comparison to cork with buying precut Homabed.

4thDistrict Wrote:
> per the customer's request, I
> always use cork instead of Homasote. It works just
> fine for that type of track. But it is much more
> expensive than Homasote for the same amount of
> area covered.

Here in Indiana, if I keep the humidity to 50% everything works fine. I've found it's not the roadbed that is effected by the humidity but rather the benchwork.  Right now I have a dehumidifer that is not woking up to par so will probably have to replace it. They only seem ot last about three years anymore.

Like I said, everything works well if I can keep the humidity to 50%. (I don't need to run the dehumidifier in the winter.) I have concrete and block walls in the basement and I've found that when the humidity gets above 50%, the doors swell up too in the basement (even though they are painted).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/15 21:12 by wabash2800.