Woodlands Scenic rubber road bed

[rsn48]

An acquittance of mine used the Woodlands Scenic rubber road bed and had problems after ballasting.  Apparently months after ballasting, when working on an area of track, pressing down working on the track, the ballast "popped" out of the track.  Seems the rubber didn't go down in the ballast area when the track was pressed down and it loosened up the ballast.

Anyone else had this problem?

[peteski]

Yes, friend of mine chose to use WS roadbed when constructing his layout and we found it too soft (squishy) to withstand the type of abuse you described. He eventually reverted to using cork roadbed but about a third of the layout uses WS roadbed. Compounding the problem is that the ballast cement does not adhere to the slippery foam plastic used in that roadbed.

[Chris333]

Plus with cork you can sand down the surface so it is perfectly flat, this was my main reason not to even try the foam.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Ah. I was going to try to use foam roadbed. You guys have convinced me not to.

[robert3985]

Good.  Cork is the way to go.  Always sand it to make sure it's smooth.  Some guys use one strip of HO cork for mainlines and two strips of N-scale cork (side by side) for sidings and branchlines.

I just sand down N-scale cork for sidings and branchlines.  Doesn't take long.

[Scottl]

My experience was positive.  I don't know what kind of force you need to apply to the roadbed after it is ballasted, but I have not had any issues.  I did find it a bit wide for my tastes, I might go with 1/2 strip of HO next time.

I agree, you can't sand it.  Mind you, it does not need it either 

[MichaelWinicki]

I've installed hundreds of feet of the stuff and every inch has been ballasted.

Not one problem and it's in an area that experiences temps of 0 degrees in the winter and highs in the 90's during the summer. 

Never experienced a problem like that, and I've replaced or cut in switches here and there.

Wonder what type of glue/method was used to adhere the ballast?

Nope.  Mine didn't need to be sanded either.

When going from mainline to industrial track, I simply picked up a bag of shims from Home Depot, and cut them to fit.  They made a fine transition piece.

[Blazeman]

Installing both now on my layout. Haven't ballasted as yet, but some time back, had a small layout using WS trackbed with no deficiencies noted.

[ljudice]

I used it on the last layout with no issues, but I found I like cork better...

Try a little of both and see which one you like.

[peteski]

I've installed hundreds of feet of the stuff and every inch has been ballasted.

Wonder what type of glue/method was used to adhere the ballast?

Standard diluted white glue as we have been using as ballast cement for decades.


Glue is not the problem.  If you use WS roadbed, you know that it is very soft (when compared to cork).  If you were to rest the palm of your hand over the track and put some weight on your hand, the roadbed (with the track on top of it) will compress.  That compression can cause the ballast to crack and come loose.  This happens even easier due to the fact that white glue does not adhere to the roadbed.

Granted, this is not what one would consider a "normal load" on the track but it can happen, especially due to the fact that we are not getting any younger and sometimes we need to prop ourselves on the layout surface.  Cork is much stiffer and will not compress like WS foam when you apply pressure to it.

I agree that the best way to figure out which one someone prefers is to try a piece of WS roadbed and cork then decide.

[Loren Perry]

My layout uses about 90% Woodland Scenics foam and 10% Midwest cork roadbed. Absolutely zero problems with either after about four years of service. I used diluted white glue to bond the ballast. I use both Woodland Scenics and Arizona Rock and Mineral ballast. It's holding very firmly even during vigorous track cleaning sessions. I used the cork where I had to sand the roadbed profile down to a thinner dimension for yards, spurs, etc. The foam roadbed has a definite silencing effect compared to the cork. When a train passes from one to the other, the noise level rises or falls noticeably depending on direction.

[LN2800]

Speaking of cork, seems Midwest recently changed theirs, last box I bought seems to be of lower quality, have a lot more rubber content, and leaves a more ragged edge when you separate the halves. In this hobby, if it isn't one thing, its another. 

[Ian MacMillan]

Speaking of cork, seems Midwest recently changed theirs, last box I bought seems to be of lower quality, have a lot more rubber content, and leaves a more ragged edge when you separate the halves. In this hobby, if it isn't one thing, its another. 

I have noticed this as well. I have to do quite a bit more sanding on the edges then in the past, and this has been the same for the last 3 boxes I have used.