Flexxbed instead of homosote

WB  Trainman, I to am in the process of rebuilding my layout & i am using 1/2'' plywood most of which is from the old layout,but the old layout had 3/4''4x8 pink insulation now i am undecided whether or not to use it again or just lay track right on the plywood,the noise factor doesn't bother me,it will be interesting to hear what kind of responses you get. Good luck with your rebuild & have fun doing it.

I am using Atlas-O track with Flexxbed on 1/2" birch plywood with no Homasote, nothing else in between. I previously had Atlas-O track screwed down to bare plywood and it was very quiet even with the screws. This will be better. I think Homasote would be good for fastening trees and other things like that without having to drill holes for everything. Atlas-O track is very quiet on it's own, but personally I would think the Flexxbed would add quieting to any track available.

A friend just built his layout with Atlas track over flexxbed over plywood. I could not believe it.  It was the quietest o gauge layout I had ever seen/heard. I was going to use homasote on my layout.  Now I think I'll skip the mess and use flexxbed. 

Bob

I have no experience with it, but I know a forum member who used it on his layout and is very pleased.  I will not name him, but let him speak for himself if he sees this thread.

This may sound silly, but what is Flexbed?  I've been on and off the forum and I do not recall hearing about this product.

Vinyl roadbed, here's a link to their site.

Flexxbed

This stuff. I believe the product is cleverly spelled FLEXXBED.

Gentlemen,

   Flexbed is a great product however not cost effective, if you can find some old ceiling supression block, it supresses the sound even better for about 1/10th the cost.  When

Lowes has it on sale it's still much cheaper, even when purchasing new, if you are a military Vet, Lowes gives you a 10% discount on top of the sale price.

PCRR/Dave

What is ceiling suppression block?

bob

RRDOC,

   Its the drop ceiling construction material used in sound proof rooms for certain music type businesses.  If you can get your hand on some of the old stuff, when businesses are remodeling, they usually give it away, because they are going to throw it away. This stuff makes great platform covering for sound supression, especially where Lionel FasTrack or the Atlas Industrial Rail Track, is being used. 

PCRR/Dave

It's not the vinyl product, it's Flexxbed. Eric of Eric's Trains demonstrated a nice feature of it when setting up his new turntable. The resilient properties of it makes rail height alignment at joints very easy by varying the track screw pressure.

It costs less than cork.

I have been reading a lot of good things about Flexxbed.  Costs less than cork!  Sounds like I will have to give it a try.

I have used it in the past and loved it.  Super easy to work with, very forgiving and it did quiet things down a bunch.

Midwest cork, over 1/2" Quietboard from HD, over 3/8 plywood - very quiet and cost effective.

Anyone use it with Lionel Fastrack? Flexxbed, that is....

I don't even think they make the Vinylbed product anymore.  Flexxbed is the way to go.  I'm planning to use it for my new Standard Gauge layout.

David

I've quoted this paragraph from the discussion forum on a website called "myLargescale.com", which sheds some light on the difference between the now-discontinued "Vinylbed" and the current "Flexxbed" product:

"Joann at Hobby Innovations ... says the major difference between the old VinylBed product and the new FlexBed product is the way it is made. The old product used vinyl that was ground into small pieces and then glued back together in sheets and then cut into the roadbed strips. The new Flexbed is formed from poured closed cell vinyl material to form sheets that are then cut. Two major advantages of the new product are lighter weight as a result of not adding a bonding agent or adhesive, and easier bending of the roadbed because of the flexibility of the closed cell vinyl."

Haven't tried it with Fastrack, but if it's wide enough for the Fastrack, I would almost bet it would do some quieting.  I don't know how much though. I think Flexxbed will send you a sample (not sure about size) for a couple bucks. It's a good product.

Thanks, was going to go that route if anyone hadn't yet tried it with the Fastrack.

I tested Woodland Scenics Track-bed on a 30" section of FasTrack. It is prescored so you can easily split it into two pieces and cuts easily with scissors. I glued sections on the underside of the FasTrack using Gorilla glue.  The test was with with three 30" sections (unmodified, modified, unmodified). It clearly make an improvement. I added up the cost of the Track-bed and the time to modify each piece of FasTrack for my 14x39 track plan and punted.

Currently still laying Gargraves track with Ross Switches. This combo on the Track-bed is significantly quieter.

Gilly

We have used Flexxbed on the G&O garden railroad for several years.  The Flexxbed under the track in the foreground has been in place in the sun and weather for over 3 years without problems.  It is easy to glue down and to curve to fit the the track.  It does quiet the track.  We  plan to ballast over this track someday but the Flexxbed will stay in place under the ballast.

You can also use it as a retaining wall and for other applications.  The gray material under the track in this photo is Flexxbed mounted vertically.  The white material is Woodland Scenics track risers.  The Flexxbed is holding back gravel that is under the track.  The nice thing about the Flexxbed is that it easily bends to fit the curve.  It is held in place by bamboo meat skewers from the grocery store that are driven into the soil behind it.  I used a lot of skewers.    

This retaining wall was installed last year to get the track running.  It has worked well for over six months.  It will be replaced with a much better looking and more prototypical looking wall in the next several months.  

"Closed cell" material is the key. It will absorb sound equal to or better than cork, which by the way, has excellent sound absorption ratings.

I have to disagree about the cost according to their price list for O Classic 1/4"  you get 12 pieces that are 35" in length for a total of  35 Feet of Roadbed material for 35.50 while midwest Cork is 25 Pieces at 36" in length for a total of 75 feet of Roadbed Material  and Train world has it for 34.99 per Case.

Well, aren't you the savvy shopper! Compare list prices. I guess the Midwest cork isn't selling. That's a good deal. Both are quiet.

I use cork over the entire platform and have not been sorry.  On one section I have 4 trains running simultaneously and the most apparent sound is the clickity clack of the cars running over the track joints.