Hound Dog

Not sure I should be offering advice as a newbie to this hobby, but currently building my first ever layout (Montgreenan) and as such was faced with a similar decision a few weeks or perhaps even months ago. I also considered the use of laminate floor foam underlay as it seemed a relatively cheap and easy to work with material, but rightly or wrongly I was put off by various posts regarding the degradation of foam products with time. I decided therefore to "play safe" and go with Cork - After painting and sealing the plywood, I have covered the entire top surface of my baseboards with 2mm cork which I have then painted an "asphalt" colour as a base for future scenery developments. I then fitted another layer of 2mm cork under all trackwork and have cut this using a small wooden block with track grooves as a template to create a shoulder for ballasting just a few millimetres beyond the sleeper edges. Once cut to size the outline was marked on the main baseboard surface and the cut strips lifted and then glued back in place with PVA...........the trackbed was then painted to match the baseboard surface, before the track was laid permanent, with holes drilled at this point for droppers and point motor mechanisms. I attached a few photos to show the effect ( excuse the drawing pins temporarily holding the track) although some fine trimming is still required and will be done before ballasting to ensure some uniformity.........hope this is of some help.