I've used this before on my last layout. I like the way it looked but when it came moving time my layout fell apart. Has anyone else used this with good results? If so what did you do to actually make it work?
I have used it without any problems. What do you mean when you said "my layout fell apart" and how is that related to the foam road bed? Gary
My track fell off the board. I had attempted to glue the foam down with the cement I had. On top of having my ballast cemented down. My curiosity here is how did anyone else attach it to their layout so I don't have a repeat? I had ordered a bunch of it some years ago so I still have a lot. I plan to use it again on my next layout I just need some insight on attaching it to my layout.
I used their roadbed when I first started with flex track. I used their suggested method with Foam Tack Glue to cement it and the track to the plaster cloth that covered Styrofoam risers attached with hot glue. Ballast was applied later with a 50-50 mix of white glue and alcohol. I have since replaced most of the flex track with Unitrack. The removal of the track and roadbed was not easy. I moved the whole 14' x 8' L shaped layout last summer and had no problem with anything coming apart. Harold
I've used it with excellent results. Also, why do you all think Woodland Scenics sell Foam Tack Glue? It is not so you will use Elmer's or hot glue trust me! Jim
I can't speak for the larger scales, but Woodland Scenics Foam Roadbed is not recommended for N-scale, especially for code 55 track, and here's why. Because of this roadbed's squishiness, it allow the track above it to flex when you're cleaning it, or pressing down on it to do anything. This flexes the metal parts of the rail such as joiners and soldered joints, which will eventually cause these things to fail because of metal fatigue or through simple distortion. The real problem is when you decide to use real code 55 rail such as Atlas 55 or Micro Engineering 55, because the rails are skinny enough to exacerbate the flexing problem. Peco 55 or any of the code 80 trackage in flextrack (not sectional) shouldn't have the rail flexing problems nearly to the extent that the smaller code 55 track will. Several modular model railroaders in our club here in Utah used Woodland Scenics Foam flexy roadbed on their new modules and had a lot of problems with it just because it was allowing the code 55 track to flex too much. Another problem with it was attaching ballast to it. Because it allowed a lot of flexing and compressing, the ballast would eventually start coming off in chunks. So, no...I do not recommend it and see no reason why anybody should use it instead of using good-old-well-proven Midwest Cork Products cork roadbed for permanent trackwork. The answer to your question on how to actually get it to work is to not use it...use cork. Cheerio! Bob Gilmore
I've had no problems using foam roadbed on my code 55 track. After 5 years the track and ballast is still firmly in place. But, as Bob mentions in the above post, I was using Peco code 55 which is really code 80 rail. I used cheap old latex caulk to glue the road bed to plywood or pink foam. The only issue I had was if I accidently stretched the roadbed. It's really easy to stretch when laying it down along the centerline which could make one side a bit thinner than the other side making an uneven base for the track. I also used latex caulk to affix the track to the roadbed. For that I used clear caulk so if any squished up between the rails it would be less conspicuous. Brian
I'm using Woodland Scenics foam roadbed as well, but under my Unitrack. I think I used their Scenic Cement to secure it and it's firmly attached to my HCD. I haven't cemented down the Unitrack yet (still have wiring to do). My only beef with Unitrack is on a HCD; the hollow door body acts like a speaker box under the plastic roadbed. The foam (and a few pieces of cork) solved that problem nicely.
I did notice how squishy it was. I could actually see my track flex. I'm not sure if there is a fix for this either. I kinda thought it was because I didn't secure it right. I did have some shorts in my track as well....not sure if the roadbed caused it or not....
