different roadbed?

[Nomad]

Hi everyone. I have ben out of the hobby for about 25 years and just getting back to this wonderful hobby. I did not realize how much I missed it. Any how, I'm thinking about using cork roadbed, but the other day, at the home improvment store, I saw some stuff called sill gasket material.
Has anybody tried using it in place of cork? It's like a plastic, and colored blue.
I was wondering if you can paint it, and will white glue and ballast hold to it.
Thanks for any info you all might have.

 

[MasonJar]

Welcome to The Gauge...!

If it is reasonably flexible, then it probably can be used. MR had an article a while back (check www.trains.com for a download) about using "truck topper tape" for roadbed. It is the thick, double-sided foam tape used to secure pickup truck tops to the bed. The sill gasket material might be similar.

Give it a try, and let us know how it turns out!

Andrew

 

[Nomad]

Mason Jar, thanks for the reply. If I use it I will pass on the info.
grewsome.

 

[doctorwayne]

Hiya, grewsome, welcome to the Gauge.
The sill gasket that I'm familiar with is a type of foam with closed cells on the outside faces . It comes in a roll, but is too wide, as-is, for roadbed. You would have to slit it to half the width which you require, in order for it to be flexible enough to curve, similar to cork or the commercial foam roadbed, which, by the way, is a totally different kind of foam. You'd also have to find something that will stick to it, if you plan on glueing it down, as the surface is quite smooth and non-porous. While extruded foam, like the pink or blue stuff, can be formed with a hot-wire cutter into a good approximation of a prototype roadbed profile, and can also be tapered in thickness, using a Surform, most soft (mooshy) foam doesn't have much workability. If you want sidings and yard tracks that are lower than the mainline, the best choices are extruded foam or cork.


Wayne