E-Z track on foam

[bredy7]

I'm starting a shelf based switching layout and looking for suggestions or links to ideas for attaching E-Z track directly to a 1/2" foam base.  Adhesives or mechanical fastener ideas are welcome!  Thanks in advance!

[Joe Satnik]

Hi, Bredy.

First, make sure your foam base is the pink or blue type, not the white, beady kind.

1/2 inch of foam by itself is not very sturdy.  Will it be sitting on a wooden shelf?

I've heard various methods of attachments, mostly glue.  

Dabs of hot melt glue along the side of the roadbed make it easy to

pry up with a putty knife and move if you want to change things.  

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

[Doneldon]

Bredy-

You can use either plastic-safe construction adhesive (e.g., Liquid Nails for Projects) or caulk. Spread a very thin layer along your right of way and put the EZ Track right on it. It will cure quickly and it's easy to pull the track up if you need/want to. Of course changing track plans after a layout is built and has scenery is a much bigger deal than just pulling up the track. It's best to have a very good idea of what you want before making things permanent. You might want to leave your track loose for a while as you experiment with your layout, only gluing it down when you have arrived at a satisfactory final plan.

I share Joe's concern about the half-inch foam. It will NOT be strong enough by itself. I'd use at least one-inch foam on wooden shelves and two-inch foam if your layout won't have at least 3/4" wooden shelves spanning no more than three feet between supports. Thicker foam will allow you to put some features and details below track level, as well as allowing you to put shallow trenches in the bottom to run wires (as long as you don't permanently attach the foam to the wood shelves.

Good luck with your project and keep us up to date on your progress.
                                                                                                           -- D

[the Bach-man]

Dear All,
On the On30 layout I built for the Springfield show I used indoor/ outdoor carpet tape.  The strength is amazing!
Have  fun!
the Bach-man

[Joe Satnik]

Dear Bachmann,

Pictures, please?

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

[Doneldon]

Dear All,
On the On30 layout I built for the Springfield show I used indoor/ outdoor carpet tape.  The strength is amazing!
Have  fun!
the Bach-man

B'mann-

How does the carpet tape compare with glue or caulk for price? And how did you do curves? Thanks.

                                                                                                                                           -- D

[the Bach-man]

Hi, Guys,
You can see pictures in the new On30 Annual, and Chris Lane will be putting up more pictures on line.  D, for curves I used short pieces. It really holds amazingly well!
Have fun!
the Bach-man

[bredy7]

First, let me thank everyone who replied!  I've never tried using a Forum before, and your response  was great...

I guess I should have described the layout more completely, because it affected the way I finally decided to go.  I wanted to keep the 18" x 8' "shelf as light as possible to take to shows, so its all foam and steel, and easy to tip up and reach the underside .  It uses foam risers every foot of its length, with two 3/4" x 8' closet poles running Thur holes in the foam.  The poles are glued in the holes and all the foam is glued together.  The sectional track and foam seem to stiffen each other, so, while its hardly "rock solid," it seems stiff enough for its purpose and weights only 10 lbs for the foam, steel and track. 

With easy access to the bottom of the layout, I came to think that the easiest way to attach and detach track sections was not adhesive, but bolts spaced around every 2' along the track.  I think that once its all ballasted, I'd rather deal a single bolt between the rails than several beads of glue at the edges of the plastic.  #6-32 bolts have small enough heads that they can be countersunk below tie level.  Then the nuts are torqued to 90 lbs from the bottom.  Oops, only joking!- they're really only finger tight.

We'll see how it all works out over time.  I guess I should confess that I'm a retired toy designer, and living on the edge of what will probably work is a way of life...  I'll try to post a few pics.

Thanks again for your interest!
Dave - bredy7

I havenn't been able to post this for 2-3 days w/ the pics; will try to do them separately...

[Terry Toenges]

I just put a small dab of white glue every 4 - 6 inches or so along the base of the EZ Track. That way, it's easy to pull up.