I am trying to figure out what I should put on top of my layout table top? And what do you use for ballast?

Ian



www.southoldstation.webs.com

I'm surprised you haven't got about a thousand answers yet. This is because there seems to be about a thousand different ideas out there, and everyone has there own opinion as to what they think is best.

I've been wrestling with this myself for about a year now, and still have not really come to a firm conclusion. I will have to make a decision soon, as my benchwork will finally be started in the next few weeks. It really depends on what you are trying to achieve. For me, it's trying to control the sound (I'm using Lionel Fastrack), and today at least, I am leaning towards using carpet foam underlay on all the flat surfaces. The foam seems to control the sound, and because it is about 1/2" thick, will allow for some "carving" to allow for inset areas.

There are many many alternatives, including Homosote,(a product that doesn't seem to be available in Canada where I live) Styrofoam of different thickness, sound board, low pile carpet, etc etc. I think you just have to try an weigh the pros and cons of what's available and go for what you think will work for you. In my research, there doesn't seem to be any clear winner, although there does seem to be a lot of folks that swear by the Homosote product.

REV

If you're not into scenery, indoor/outdoor carpeting never fails!

I used homosote and fast track.

I also went with Homosote for sound deadening and Lionel Fastrack with its own ballast.

Tex

quote:

If you're not into scenery, indoor/outdoor carpeting never fails!

I agree! I am using a light gray colour.

I like to start with Woodland Scenic's grass mat as a base.

quote:

Originally posted by KevinE:

quote:

If you're not into scenery, indoor/outdoor carpeting never fails!

I agree! I am using a light gray colour.

A note about the carpeting. Usually the first thought is to use green to simulate grass. That's fine, but the gray (that I use as well) is more neutral and emphasizes the colors of trains and accessories. This really only applies to toy train layouts though. I don't think I've ever seen a hi-rail layout with carpeting.

I am in the process of using 2" pink foam board. Very easy to work with. You can cut it with a hot knife although the fumes can be a bit rough. Cutting it with a sheet rock knife or other kind of saw is easy but obviously makes a little bit of a mess but easy to shop vac up (try cutting homasote!) The 2" foam board makes it a snap to cut in a river or whatever scenic thing you like. I use vinyl spackle to cover the seams and level those areas. I use an adehesive caulk that is ok for use on foam board to glue it to the plywood. And it is truly sound deadening. Some type of carpet under your layout will also help to reduce the noise. You can walk on it, lay on it and sit on it as long as your bench work is solid. Good luck. Big Rail

I am working on my fifth layout. I still like to use cork for the roadbed. Ballast wise I have used rubber ballast for many years. But I never went past just doing the beveled sides of the cork with ballast. I do paint the top of the cork with a color that matches the color of the ballast. For doing my scenery I still use window screen covered with drywall compound but I also have used pink board to build scenery still covering that with drywall compound. I paint the plaster with a base color and then apply acyrlic paint to that........Paul

I used 1/2" plywood with 1 1/2" pink foam board, I temporarily screw the track to the plywood with 2 inch screws then use Woodland Scenics ballast and a 50/50 mixture of white glue and water. Once is it dry I remove the screws and the glued ballast holds the track to the foam and provides a decent amount of sound deadener, it's not as quiet as homasite in my opinion but I like the foam because I can carve and shape it to prevent the train board from looking flat. Plus, it is easy to stack and carve to make mountains or gouge out to make creeks and lakes, it takes paint and glue well and it very light weight.

Paul

I simply used 1/2" plywood and laid my track on Woodland Scenic's foam roadbed with Brennan's Ballast. My track is Atlas and I screwed it down through the foam roadbed with small screws. My trains run quiet as a mouse.

PRRDave

In used 3/4' plywood with 2 inch blue foam on top of that. The track was screwed down until I ballasted it then the screws were removed, makes it very quiet. I recommend Brennan's Ballast if you want the best looking quality ballast however depending on how big a layout you have that can get a little pricey when you get up to the amount of ballast I used. It is very competitive with Scenic Express and other manufacturers prices and looks a lot better. I used roofing granules on my layout in driftwood color, a 5 gallon bucket weighing over 40 lbs cost me $20.00 and I used at least half of it so far. Do a search on the Forum for ballast and look at what others have done and decide what looks best to you, we all see things from a different perspective.

Roofing granules ballasted track below. Maybe someone that used Dennis' great ballast can post a pic for you.

Ian,

For years I always used Homasote over 1/2" plywood, and it works great.

For my present layout, however, I had a difficult time finding Homasote, and instead used QuietBrace, which I found at Home Depot. Not only did it work as well as Homasote, was just as easy to cut (with a knife), but was 1/2 to 1/3 of the cost of what I read others had paid for Homasote at the time (early 2008, BTW).

Here is a photo of an elevated track showing the construction. Note that I cut through just the QuietBrace for the elevation and that became the track support between the risers - it worked fine.



Have fun!


Alex

quote:

I am trying to figure out what I should put on top of my layout table top?

A light umbra or sienna paint. I like my trains noisy like the real ones and our layout vacuumable wherever reasonable. (Then again your goals might be different ..).

Homasote is great. Not easy to cut, but is does deaden sounds and it's easy to fasten the track down.

They sell it in 4 X 8 sheets at Penny Lumber.

Jon

quote:

Originally posted by VaGolfer1950:
I used roofing granules on my layout in driftwood color, a 5 gallon bucket weighing over 40 lbs cost me $20.00 and I used at least half of it so far.

***

Roofing granules ballasted track below. Maybe someone that used Dennis' great ballast can post a pic for you.

Where do you get the roofing granules? Is that the proper name? Can I just go to Home Depot or Lowes and ask for that and not get funny looks?

Home Depot and such don't usually carry it or they carry one solid color (black or white). I got mine from a local roofing supply company, check the yellow pages or Google for a supplier in your area

Thanks guys I really appriciate your help with this.I think im going to go with the homasote on the table top and gargraves track with roofing granules for ballast.



Ian

www.southoldstation.webs.com

quote:

Originally posted by Ingeniero No1:
Ian,

For years I always used Homasote over 1/2" plywood, and it works great.

For my present layout, however, I had a difficult time finding Homasote, and instead used QuietBrace, which I found at Home Depot. Not only did it work as well as Homasote, was just as easy to cut (with a knife), but was 1/2 to 1/3 of the cost of what I read others had paid for Homasote at the time (early 2008, BTW).

Here is a photo of an elevated track showing the construction. Note that I cut through just the QuietBrace for the elevation and that became the track support between the risers - it worked fine.



Have fun!


Alex

How is this stuff for dust and moisture? I've heard that Homasote has issues with swelling from humidity. Did you paint it that color?

i used 5/8 thick plywood.i wish i would of used a grass mat like andy did.the tables i use for my o gauge rr was originally for a sceniced ho scale rr.

rather than throw away all the scenry foam i had glued down i merely laid the fastrack right on the already sceniced tables and followed up with more foam.

homasote was used in my early ho scale layouts and was very easy to use imo.not available here in my area though now.

terry.......

If you just screw the track into the Homasote, what happens after a couple of laps of a seven pound loco stressing the track on the corners. Don't they become loose? I have read that you should drill all the way through the Homasote, and instead of using sound transmitting screws into the substrate, just pull some real thin black wire ties, and lock them from the bottom.

My tables are made of frames and supports cut from 3/4" clear pine with a 1/2" clear plywood top. Solid as a rock. All the track is cushioned with a thick cork roadbed material, not the quietest but it does the job.

Greetings;
I used Celotex Soundboard over 2 layers of 1.5" Pink foam board on Plywood. Really cuts the noise of my RealTrax which is similar in sound to Fastrack.
I used the Pink total 3" because I want a lot of vertical in my layout, I'm modeling Western Colorado. Several folks have posted in the past about sealing the edges down to trap the sound, that may also help.

On the advice of friends here, chicken grit.

I use Midwest cork roadbed right on the plywood table top. Track goes on top of the roadbed. I use chicken grit (the crushed granit kind) for ballast.

QUOTE]A note about the carpeting. Usually the first thought is to use green to simulate grass. That's fine, but the gray (that I use as well) is more neutral and emphasizes the colors of trains and accessories. This really only applies to toy train layouts though. I don't think I've ever seen a hi-rail layout with carpeting.[/QUOTE]

I agree that a more neutral carpeting accentuates the colors of the trains and accessories more than green. On my layout I use a mottled brown carpet that shows more texture than the smoother indoor outdoor carpet and I like the look a lot. And I also agree that carpeting looks nice on a toy train layout. If you are interested in a more realistic look, then other methods than carpeting are necessary. Extra ties were added to the tubular track, but I don't like the look of ballast added to carpeted toy train layouts. In my opinion, ballasted track looks best on more realistic layouts.

quote:

Originally posted by AGHRMatt:
How is this stuff for dust and moisture? I've heard that Homasote has issues with swelling from humidity. Did you paint it that color?

No problem so far regarding moisture, and I cut it with a box-cutter knife, so no dust.

Yes, I painted the top brown as shown. It was black and green and took two coats to cover.

I used Homasote on several layouts from late 1960's through 1990, but could not find Homasote this time, so I bought the QuietBrace (about $8 per 4' x 8' sheet at HD) and I am very happy with it. I believe it is stiffer than Homasote, and in my experience it serves just as well or better to lessen track noise.

Alex

Lifelike grasspaper. If I win the lotto I'll hire a layout builder to slave over scenery.

Many years ago, at a Greenbergs show, I saw Roland LaVoie use small granule kitty litter for ballast. He mixed elmer's glue and water 50/50, and sprayed onto kitty litter, after spreading it with a bent Dixie cup. The Elmers mix dries clear, and you can easily chip it up if you need to remove/replace. And it doesn't get any cheaper than that.

Just as long as your full scale cat doesn't have access to the layout.

I used homasote, then Midwest cork and I recommend Brennan's Ballast.