There is a thread here that discusses using PVC pipe as a spline for roadbed.  I have nto tried PVC mouldings but would be interested in hearing any experiences with using it.

Here's that other thread;  Building Roadbed With PVC Pipe

I bought a piece of the 8' x 1-3/4" x 1/4" plastic lathe at the home supply place (can't say the name but think "orange") to experiment with using it for sub-roadbed splines.  It is very flexible and can easily be bent into a tight radius - I didn't measure it, but I believe a 24" radius wouldn't be a problem.  I cut a couple of pieces off see how they worked using hot glue to connect them, and it makes a very strong and fast joint.  I also glued a piece of 3/4" square pine to the lathe and it also was a very strong joint.

Just for fun I cut the remaining piece into 3 strips and glued them into a set of a radius using the hot glue and spring clamps.  The result is very strong, light, and easy to assemble.  Judging from how strong this is I believe that I could have gone with only two pieces and it would be very strong.  The home supply place also had this material in a smaller size -but it was only a few cents cheaper per piece.

Blue,

Thank you for the link.  I read the material and it looks like a very interesting and easy way to do the spline.  I've done some work with heating PVC pipe to make tighter bends and it works well.  I've used both a heat gun and a troth filled with boiling water.  I also like the fact that joints could be made using standard PVC cleaner and glue.  You could even use the PVC couplers if you cut a flat spot on top where the roadbed goes.

Rick

Wouldn't PVC primer/glue work on this lattice as well?  No need for hot glue then and would be SUPER fast to throw down some roadbed.

Although, how is sound absorbtion?  Seems like a lost cause if all the roadbed would then need to be topped with cork or homasote.

How much per piece is the 8' PVC lattice?

Josh

I've had horrible problems in the past making durable joints between styrene and wood using various types of glues. Nothing seemed to make a joint that would stand the test of time (and the seasonal expansion/contraction of the wood).

Did you do any ruggedness testing on the joints?  I confess that I did not try hot glue to attach styrene backdrop panels to 2x4 studs...

Neat idea though!

Charlie

Josh,

Good thoughts.  I haven't tried the PVC primer/glue and it might work.  If it does work, it definately will be stronger; however, the working time would be very short...perhaps too short to allow for proper alignment.  As far as sound, I was thinking about trying using ceiling tiles instead of homasote, and then using the Woodland Scenices(tm) foam track bed (on a roll) for the track roadbed.  The lattice isn't cheap - I believe I paid $3.60 for an 8' stick.

Rick

Charlie,

I haven't done any long term testing on the hot glue to how it will adhere to itself & wood in the long run.  I was also concerned about that and toyed with the idea of running screws through the strips into the wood blocks - maybe not every block.

I'm also thinking about using a different system to hold the strips together using cuts in the wood spacers.  More on that later.

Rick

Wood doesn't expand along it's long axis (looking into the grain). For what it's worth, were you to pursue this method, simply make sure the spacers are put in correctly, and they might swell, but won't push it apart.

Thankyou for the information.  I'll definately take that into consideration.

Rick

Instead of hot glue why not just use screws? You could probably only need 1 screw per block.

Peter