Fastening track to (cork) roadbed -- what's your fav method and why?

[peteski]

Yes, Pliobond is quite stinky.

[wazzou]

A thin layer of acrylic matte gel medium spread with a sparkle knife.

I think one of my daughters Barbie houses came with one of those knives.   

[mmagliaro]

DAP DYNAFLEX 230 Premium Indoor/Outdoor Sealant

in gray.

Wood glues will let go if you aren't careful when you are wetting ballast down with alcohol and water
later (assuming you are going to ballast).    The caulk doesn't. 
The other big plus is that it's gray, so when you spread a thin layer of it and put the track down, everything
is gray between the ties.  If you miss with the ballast in a spot or two, it doesn't show.   

Under throwbar areas, of course, no adhesive.  But I paint the area under the track gray before putting the turnout
in, so that again, you can keep the throwbar area a little less full of ballast so it won't jam up,
but still looks good.

Titebond III  for benchwork - all the glue + screw jobs.   It is significantly stronger than Titebond II, and
not all big-box stores carry it.  You might have to go to a home building store or hardware store.

[Dave V]

I've never mixed my Scotch with double sided tape 

Then you haven't lived, brother...

[basementcalling]

I've never mixed my Scotch with double sided tape 
[/quote?

Then you haven't lived, brother...

I guess this is where the idea of duct taping people to walls started.

[bdennis]

Im with Rod on the Caulk or No more gaps. I recently used brown no more gaps.
My sub road bed is ply wood. I use the caulk for the ply to cork sub road bed as well as the cork to track join.
I place a bead of caulk then I use a plastic scraper to flatten out the bead to a very thin layer of caulk and then place the track down.
The caulk dries in minutes so I only lay 1 or 2 lenghts of flex track at a time as it will dry up fairly quickly.
On curves, I have a bunch of cork borad push pins with 3mm cork off cuts on each pin. I then push the pin between the ties to hold the flex in place while things dry.
I pre painted all the timber brown first and then laid the cork strips and then the track. All the brown colour on top of the cork in this picture is the caulk or "no more gaps".

[lashedup]

Clear liquid nails for projects.  Spread it in a thin layer, gives you plenty of working time, allows you to see the track centerline and leaves no coloration behind.  Stays put long term or you can work a razor blade under and pull track up if you need to.

- jamie

[OldEastRR]

Gray caulk for roadbed sounds good -- in fact you could probably sprinkle ballast over the track once you set it in the still-wet caulk. Maybe avoid having to do the soak and spray method of ballasting, except for touch-ups. I'll have to experiment with that.

[SkipGear]

I'm surprised only one person has mentioned contact cement. I've been doing this for years. Last year our NTrak club was rebuilding a corner module as club teaching project. I volunteered to lay the track and cork and told them it would be done in under a half hour, including laying out the curves. When I pulled out the contact cement more than half group groaned. They didn't believe it would work.

Contact cement is fast, clean, and doesn't leave a build up squishing up between the ties. There is no need to pin, weight, or tack anything down and once cured, you can pick up the module by the track. Contact cement (odorless if you are working with foam) and a hair dryer and you can lay track as fast as you can plan it and be running on it soon as you make your last connection.

[wazzou]

I used to use Contact Cement, but in my experience the stuff evaporates and over time I had problems with areas I hadn't reached yet for ballasting becoming detached from the Cork.

[SkipGear]

I used to use Contact Cement, but in my experience the stuff evaporates and over time I had problems with areas I hadn't reached yet for ballasting becoming detached from the Cork.

I haven't seen a failure yet. I use the contact cement for vinyl flooring which I would expect to last many years before giving up its bond.

[SP-Wolf]

I use matte medium. For me- it works very well.

Thanks,
Wolf

[peteski]

Pliobond (mentioned very early in the thread) is a contact cement brand.  But it has a strong odor and will melt Styrofoam if applied to it directly.

[SkipGear]

Pliobond (mentioned very early in the thread) is a contact cement brand.  But it has a strong odor and will melt Styrofoam if applied to it directly.

Sorry Peteski. didn't realize Pliobond was a contact cement. The stuff I use comes in a quart container and is available in both solvent based and acrylic (foam safe) versions. The solvent based sticks a little better but both work great for me.

[Cajonpassfan]

I have track laid down some thirty years ago and never ballasted using Weldwood contact cement with no issues...
Only the newer, water based version is now available here in California, but it seems to work as well, with only a bit longer setting time, which is actually beneficial. Time will tell whether it will last another thirty years...
I love the stuff.
Regards! Otto K.