Tracklay underlay and primer queries

[Erasmus666]

I've a 1/2 inch plywood base topped with 1inch thick polystrene tiles to reduce noise. I've set up a simple loop and tried it out with a few trains and the noise level seems to be acceptable. However, if I can reduce it further then great. There are two questions please:

1) I've seen videos about how good Tracklay underlay is. Should I use the underlay to reduce noise even more or can I do without it and go straight to the ballasting phase of track preparation? How much of an improvement in noise reduction would there be by using the underlay? If it is negligible then is it worth the expense?

2) I've read that it's useful to prime the tiles prior to painting. I would appreciate suggestions as to what primer to use. I build model aircraft and have found that Halfords acrylic primer works brilliantly on these models. Would this primer be suitable to spray onto the tiles prior to painting or can you suggest an alternative please?

Many thanks

[TomTom]

Big thumbs up for Tracklay by me. I've used it for years now and it makes ballasting and track adjustment a doddle. Having seen your question here I went to You Tube and found one video demonstrating its use, but it negated all its advantages by gluing it in place with PVA. How I use it is by drybrushing track sleepers beforehand with various shades of grey, brown etc to get the finish required, then cut a length of Tracklay slightly longer than the track- talking yard/metre flexitrack here -straighten it up and make sure sleepers are parallel, then place it carefully on the sticky side making sure is is sitting centrally. (Before this peel off the paper backing.) Place on some newspapers - I do a few lengths at a time - and generously spread ballast all over it, tamping it down with fingers to make sure it grabs the adhesive. Shake excess off and save for the next lot. Result - a yard of ballasted track done in a minute or two. When it comes to laying it the ballasted track can be curved carefully to a desired radius without affecting the ballasting.


My baseboards are blockboard covered with a 5m closed cell foam, like the camping mat stuff, glued in place with Copydex, and track laid on top of it and pinned lightly in place. Once all laid, track is tested for running , any derailments etc, and once happy with everything I infill between the laid track with 1/16th cork sheet, getting a close fit but not necessarily perfect and any small gaps can be filled with scrap pieces. This is painted the required ground colour and then a bead of Copydex is run along the sides of the track and some ballast is sprinkled on and hand tamped down, then removed when the glue dries.The securing pins are taken out and the rail painted - I use Humbrol enamel track colour - and the tops of the rails wiped clean of paint and then given a polish. This gives a silent PW with a bit of vertical movement - modern heavy diesels can make the track depress a bit, but allows for good current pick up - and any later adjustments are easily carried out if track needs to be slewed a bit. Glueing everything down with PVA is a recipe for later problems; after all, the real thing is laid in loose stones to give a degree of latitude.

Which brings me to your baseboard. Certainly the 1" foam will silence things but it will make pinning track, and points which do need to be pinned securely in the horizontal plane if using point motors, difficult. I wouldn't use any 1/2" material for a baseboard without a good deal of bracing and that leads to noise transmission, but with 5mm foam and Tracklay laid like this it should cut down the noise. I find posting images here a bit of a pain, but I have an entry in a post that will show the outlines of what I have been doing. Google RMweb, Ben Alder's blog, and go to Tracklay and you will see some pictures. After the sites loss of images I deleted most of my posts but I have added some of the pics back at the bottom of the article, which should make things clearer. Any questions, please ask away, I am happy to help if I can. I'm in the throes of gathering images for a post on a FB group about this as well, so should have another option for you in a week or so. Tracklay is a really under valued asset for modellers, which removes most of the stress of laying track and ballasting, and deserves to be better appreciated, IMHO.

[Erasmus666]

Thanks for the suggestion about using 5mm foam instead of the polystrene tiles. What's been said about track fitting makes perfect sense. Using the foam instead of the tiles would also mean that priming the whole thing shouldn't be necessary. The base board is totally supported all over by heavy duty trestle tables.