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C+L underlay and Carr's ballast


Mikkel

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For what it's worth, here's a quick recap of some of the products I tried out for the underlay and ballast on "The bay".

 

 

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C+L foam underlay. I used neoprene foam from C+L Finescale for the underlay. This was of 5mm thickness, although I believe they now also have an 3mm version available. The foam may at first seem rather sensitive: Even a light prod of a finger leaves a noticeable hollow. However, the foam eventually evens out, and in any case becomes much less sensitive once fixed in place. For this I used a gooey, water-based glue, normally applied to carpet underlay. I extended the foam across the entire baseboard, rather than using it only beneath the track. This also allows buildings and structures to be recessed into the foam by cutting appropriate holes, thereby eliminating the problem of unsightly gaps between structures and ground surface. Look at that heavy chipboard - stone age baseboards, but it was what I had lying around at the time.

 

 

 

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Carr's 4mm ash ballast (left) vs 2mm stone ballast (right). In Edwardian times, neat ballast shoulders were rarely seen in bay platform areas on the GWR. Photos of the Newbury bays suggest a light sprinkling of a rather fine ash-like ballast, and sleepers almost level with the surrounding ground. Since most manufacturers seem to insist on over-scale ballast, I experimented with both 2mm stone ballast and ash ballast. The picture above compares Carr's 4mm Ash ballast (left) with 2mm Dark Grey Ballast (right) from the same company. I opted for the finer Ash Ballast, a dark grey matter of non-stone material. This gives a nice representation of the very fine ballast I was after.

 

 

 

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Ballasted track. I applied the ballast to the track through a film cannister, pierced with holes at the bottom to get an even and controllable spread. This was then adjusted with a fine brush and a not-so-fine index finger. I sieved away some of the finer ballast dust beforehand, and then later added it to the top in order to enhance the "fine" look.

 

 

 

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Original and extended sleeper spacing on Peco track. The track is Peco Code 100, left over from an earlier layout. I consider this a compromise, but I stuck to my principle of exploiting the items I already had available. Moreover, with careful ballasting and weathering it is a compromise I can live with. I did experiment with the sleeper spacing, to see if I might create the illusion of scale track gauge. I realize this is a very subjective thing, but for me the extended sleeper spacing gave a slight narrow gauge look with which I wasn't quite happy, so I decided to leave the track as it came.

 

Edited by Mikkel

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Thanks Mikkel,

I am trying to decide on underlay etc for my developing layout and whilst researching came across your post. My layout will be a roundy roundy runner so obviously would like to try and reduce running noise and vibrations. I am considering using a foam underlay all over the ply board with cork base for the running lines to create the mainline raise shoulder effect.

I would be very grateful if I could have your opinion on the use of the foam as and if it is worth using or is the traditional cork on ply just as good and therefore cost/time effective. (Happy for a PM if you prefer).

Thank you for your time,

Matt.

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  • RMweb Gold

Hi Matt,

 

Sorry I hadn't seen your post. I've been quite happy with the use of foam as underlay. On my latest layout I didn't use it and just went for cork. That has turned out to be more noisy than I would like, so I will use foam again for the next project. Note that when securing foam it's best to use a flexible type of glue, as otherwise it can set hard and thereby become stiff and noisy.

 

Mikkel

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  • RMweb Gold

Hi Matt, I hope you'll find a solution that works for you. Incidentally, I have just bought some more of the neoprene foam that I used in this post, although in 2mm thickness. C+L don't seem to have it anymore, but it is easily available on ebay now. I got mine here (no connections).

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6 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Hi Matt, I hope you'll find a solution that works for you. Incidentally, I have just bought some more of the neoprene foam that I used in this post, although in 2mm thickness. C+L don't seem to have it anymore, but it is easily available on ebay now. I got mine here (no connections).

 

The 5mm thickness is listed on the C&L Website as being available - https://www.clfinescale.co.uk/online-store/Carrs-B-FOAM-UNDERLAY-1-M-X-0-5-M-X-5MM-p129151249.  It's also cheaper than the same sized sheet on that e-bay store, albeit the e-bay seller seems to have a wider range of sizes and thicknesses available.

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  • RMweb Gold

Thanks, I must have missed it. I would certainly rather support a proper model railway business than an anonymous ebay trader. 

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