YARD ROADBED INSTALLATION

Sheet cork roadbed was glued down for Oakridge and the Eugene Depot yard areas.  Both of these areas involve a lot of track and switches, so I decided to use sheet cork as roadbed.  A quick Google search netted several suppliers of sheet cork in a variety of lengths.  I ordered a pair of 48 feet long by 4 feet wide rolls of ¼” cork.  Though a 100 feet long roll was available, keeping it to the shorter rolls made for easier shipping (My UPS driver appreciated that!) and easier handling by me. 

I rolled out the cork on the subroadbed and then began transferring key dimensions for the track from the full size track plan, which is still on the floor, to the cork.  I then trimmed the cork using a large hobby knife.  The rough trim will be sufficient to permit track laying.  A final trim will follow the final track position. 

Sheet cork placement and trim for Oakridge.

After studying a couple of alternatives, I settled on using basic wood glue to affix the sheets to the plywood subroadbed.  I poured glue from a gallon container and spread it using a cheap plastic putty knife set.  After the glue was spread for the first 8-10 feet, I began rolling the cork back onto the glue.

Glue spread for Oakridge cork sheet.

With glue spread for the full area and the cork rolled out, weight (mostly strips of plywood) was laid on it to hold the cork in position.  Edges not well covered by the plywood were held down by push pins.

 Cork sheet held in place by plywood and push pins.

Other areas will receive Midwest Cork roadbed strips.  This is all basic model railroad cork roadbed installation.  The point of this post is simply to show the progress and document what I did. 

Progress over the past two weeks has been modest due to family obligations, but the pace is picking back up.  The next project is creating frames for the backdrop spine that separates Eugene from Oakridge and around through the middle of the Springfield lobe.