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Help!  I've been bitten by the "tinplate snake" and now I too am under the spell.  I will have an 8 X 14-foot area for a combination std. ga. and O gauge layout.  I like the kelly-green underlayment that many have and I want to use one of the above named materials.  Are there any pro's / con's you would care to mention?  It will be a help to me and I thank all in advance who respond.  One question I have is, should I fasten it temporarily in order to allow it to slacken before I staple or glue it permanently?  Or would permanent fastening be necessary at all?          Hoppy

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I use 3/16 or 5/16 thick Upson Board.    This is a pressed paper product that is denser and harder than homosote and not so prone ot absorbing moisture.      It comes in 4x8 ft sheets like plywood and is bascially white on both sides.   

On my layout I cut it to strips a little wider than the ties length and just put in under the track.    I cut slots to be able to bend it on curves.   

This is probably not as quiet as using a carpet type product.

G3750 posted:

I'm with Tom and Ted - paint your table top.

Interestingly enough, I use felt in building my layout.  But strips of it go between tables as a cushion / noise suppressant.  This is a trick I learned from my friend Price Bradshaw (The Shadow on this forum).  My tracks sit on Vinylbed (or Flexxbed as it's called now);  they are very quiet.

George

Do you mean between the supports and the plywood top?  If so do you essentially have a floating table top?  How do you join adjacent sections?

Here's what I did. Paint the table top some shade of flat forest green. While the paint is wet, sprinkle in Woodland Scenics light green foam. Now, paint the board again right over the ground foam you just applied. Next, sprinkle on more ground foam, but don't paint it again. You end up with two different shades of ground foam "grass". Install trees on top of  that  in groupings of three or four. This gives a pretty good effect.

jhz563 posted:
G3750 posted:

I'm with Tom and Ted - paint your table top.

Interestingly enough, I use felt in building my layout.  But strips of it go between tables as a cushion / noise suppressant.  This is a trick I learned from my friend Price Bradshaw (The Shadow on this forum).  My tracks sit on Vinylbed (or Flexxbed as it's called now);  they are very quiet.

George

Do you mean between the supports and the plywood top?  If so do you essentially have a floating table top?  How do you join adjacent sections?

Here's what I mean.  The first photo is the table top (where the 2 tables come together) from above.

Benchwork_399_

Here's what the joining of tables looks like from below. 

Benchwork_400_

You can see the felt between the tables hanging down.

Hope this helps,

George

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Ted S posted:

I agree with Tom.  Paint with sawdust / ground texture sprinkled on while still wet.  Before there was Woodland Scenics, that was realistic enough for most of us.  Felt or carpet will both shed fibers that would end up in your axles and gears.  No!

To the best of my memory, SGMA has never had a "fiber" problem using "looped pile" carpet on our modules.  However, I can see how "cut pile" carpet might shed fibers.

Bob Nelson 

I used astroturf carpet.  I stretched it tight like a canvas painting over a frame on each plywood section and stapled it to the backside

 Instant grass and sound deadening.   Hides all the holes in the plywood when you change layout or accessory locations.  Paint it whatever color you choose in needed areas.

You have to use the cheap astroturf.  The good stuff is too fluffy and thick.

 

I like the carpet also.  I used regular carpet pad from Amazon underneath.  I didn't fasten the pad at all.  Just stapled the carpet over it.  No homasote and no carpet ballast either.  I'm sure that wouldn't hurt but it's already super quiet so not necessary IMHO.  Here are some of my construction pics:

1x4 frame

IMG_4614

1/2" plywood top

IMG_4688

Carpet pad

IMG_4694

Carpet

IMG_4707

Today with sides and skirting (also from Amazon)

IMG_6049

Good luck.  Post some pics when you do it.

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Skirting really improves the appearance of a layout.  The SGMA mandates grey full length skirting on the outside edge of their displays, but several members add green skirting to the interior for a more finished look.  Both attach with Velcro, which makes access easy.

 

Kirk Lindvig, USA Track LLC



My brother Chuck, with carpeted SGMA modules (with skirting) at the International Toy Train Expo last weekend-

C8E4E393-8C8C-479C-9707-E516AFA1B6FB

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