EddScott Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 I am starting out with a smallish end to end layout. I previously has a 6m by 3m round the wall layout on which I used cork tiles as underlay to give the rails that raised look. However, with this current layout it is going to be a TMD and so raised track might look a bit odd. I'm thinking of buying 3mm fibre underlay and laying over all of the baseboard. Does this sound like a reasonable plan? I don't really want to lay directly onto the ply baseboard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire2865 Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 Why not still use cork sheet? Lay it out across the board and you can run point rodding and wires through it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddScott Posted August 15, 2018 Author Share Posted August 15, 2018 Thinking about it, I will get cork sheet again. So does it sound like the best approach to lay across the whole of the baseboards? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailWest Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 If you only used the cork previously in order to give the 'raised' look, but don't want that on this layout, then why bother? Why do you not want to lay directly onto the ply (just curious...)? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tractor_37260 Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 (edited) If you only used the cork previously in order to give the 'raised' look, but don't want that on this layout, then why bother? Why do you not want to lay directly onto the ply (just curious...)? It would be noisy - un-damped ply will act like a soundboard............ Edited August 15, 2018 by tractor_37260 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailWest Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 I assumed that, but just wanted to check :-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bécasse Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 It would be noisy - un-damped ply will act like a soundboard............ I lay my track directly on to 4mm MDF (to which I have applied one coat of matt varnish) giving a beautifully flat surface. Mounting that on a sheet of cork (or other sound insulator), but not gluing it to it, will greatly reduce any unwanted sound transmission. Generally though my locomotives run quietly anyway, the one exception being a tiny O&K diesel which has a two-stage worm-gear worm-gear transmission which is noisy but sounds so like the prototype that I have had to answer a number of queries at shows as to how I managed to get a sound chip and speaker into such a tiny locomotive! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HLT 0109 Posted August 16, 2018 Share Posted August 16, 2018 It would be noisy - un-damped ply will act like a soundboard............ But, as discussed many times, as soon as the track is ballasted, the sound-deadening effect of the cork is lost. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.snowdon Posted August 17, 2018 Share Posted August 17, 2018 But, as discussed many times, as soon as the track is ballasted, the sound-deadening effect of the cork is lost.That depends on how thick the cork was to start with. If using 3mm thick cork, there is still a considerable thickness that is unaffected by any adhesives used to secure either it or the ballast. Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted August 18, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 18, 2018 But he's laying track for a depot, so can dispense with ballasting in the conventional sense. The track needs to be as low as possible to the baseboard, and my instinct would be to lay directly to the baseboard and build up the scenic treatment around it for the correct 'set in to the mud' look. Speeds will be low and most modern stock is pretty quiet; I cannot see noise being much of an issue even if the layout is in a living room. But if you are concerned about noise, then the cork underlay should cover the whole board with the track laid directly on top. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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