Maybe

I was hoping for a photo of the stuff at the Menards link. Is this stuff brown? Is one side painted or coated black?

If it is what I think it is and I have seen it at our local Menards store it works great for track laying. You can push spikes or track nails into it very easily and they hold. You want to cut it outside as the fibers come off almost like a powder when cut with a saw, it makes a hell of a mess on carpet. I cut it with a utility knife. You do want to lay it over a plywood road bed.

It absorbs water and humidity without expanding. In many places it is illegal to use as outside siding because if exposed to a lot of water over many years it starts to fall apart. You are suppose to paint it.

Jack

Thanks Jack,

That's what I wanted to know - whether it would hold paint ok.  I think a local friend used it and liked it also.  

Sorry the pic loaded sideways for some reason, but here is the product at menards.

Thats the stuff

And the price seems the same too as what I saw here in our local store. Been quite awhile since I bought any and at that time it was called Build or Built Right or something like that. I have no idea how level it is. I used it with HO and now am using some left over pieces for an N scale layout and not having any trouble with it at all. The left over pieces are around 25? years old.

Jack

...

I used a sheet (same stuff is at Home Depot) for one segment of my layout before changing over to using ceiling tiles. It worked just fine I only switched to using the tiles because of convenience. Like someone mentioned it works well if you need to drive spikes.

Replacement for foam?

Does the stuff carve reasonably well?  In other words, could it be used instead of foam as a layout base and carved/sanded a bit to make some contours?

Here's a Photo

This is one corner of my new N scale layout. It's close to a window which lets a lot of light in during early mornings. I took it so the edge could be seen I hope along with some of the top surface. It sits on top of plywood. This version like I said yesterday is all brown and has no coating of any sort on it. The photo looks like it has 2 layers of the fiber board on it. It is only one. I made 3 passes with a utility knife and what looks like a 2nd layer is because the knife cut a bit to the side of the 1st cut. When I get around to a fascia it will be covered up.

Ken it can be sanded really easily. Carved, maybe as I haven't ever tried it. Keep in mind it is only 1/2 inch thick. I plan on using foam and or plaster for hills and mountains. Plaster being way cheaper but takes more work and can be messy trying to put trees up.

Jack 

Celotex

Yeah, 4x8' sheet goods, reminds you a lot of ceiling tile material.  I used it once as exterior sheathing under "car siding".  Not very durable, flexes a lot, I wouldn't use it if I had foam sheet as the alternative for layout base.

The fibers in it are much coarser than ceiling tile, if you were thinking of using it for a cliff face or sedimentary rock formation.

Tim B.

  I have seen this stuff at a

I have seen this stuff at a lumber depot here in Quebec

Already mentioned, this stuff is good for spiking like homasote; the backwards is the fact like homasote it's not very stable and need to be paint to not fall apart in time.

The dust produced like homasote when cutting it is also problematic to my eyes.

I prefer to us Micore in place; this stuff is more rigid and seems not really affected by water.

Price seems acceptable, modelers have already used this product.

https://myfireplaceproducts.com/ca_fr/boite-de-panneaux-en-fibre-minerale-micore-300-48-x-24-x-1-2-4-unites-ac02565b

Here also a link about a previous discussion a few weeks ago about homasote,

https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/homasotehoma-bed-12215374

  "this stuff is good for

If it falls apart in the weather it's not like Homasote. Real Homasote is very weather resistant, it can be boiled and survive intact.. Lots of folks call other similar appearing materials Homasote giving Homasote a false bad rap.. The key in this instance is the weight, if it weighs less it's not as dense as real Homasote so probably is inferior in spike holding and durability? .....DaveB

Falling Apart

We had this stuff as siding on our house in MN when we bought it. That was in 1993. The house was built in 1935 and it was still in good shape. None of our neighbors had any memory of when it had been put on the house. It does not fall apart when you get it wet applying water glue mixture for ballast and it runs all over the place cause you let to much out at one time. It dries up in a few hours or a lot less. No warping, raising of bumps because of water adsorption, or any other side affects. Also takes paint well and most kinds of glue.

Jack

i have used the exact same stuff, i love it , its easy to work w

 i love it , its easy to work with , and i will a test with Jack that you definetley need to cut outside.. unless you have a super powered turbo suction industrial vacuum..(lol) . and it holds spike s, easy to paint and glue to. shaping is a breeze and no more messy than the pink foam board.  

spline

How would it work for spline?

Spline Roadbed

Good question. Probably you would want 3 splines across. How close to put in the risers would need to be tested.

Jack

Sound-deadening qualities?

Can anyone advise how Blue Ridge Fiberboard compares to Homasote relative to sound-deadening qualities? I will soon be at the point of building my reverse loop/storage yard tracks and was planning to lay that on top of a layer of Homasote. If BR Fiberboard is at least equivalent and even cheaper then I'd be willing to give that a shot. Also, I'm going to scratch-build my turnouts so am glad to hear that it holds spikes/nails well.

  "I'm going to

"well" is a relative term. I've never seen a fiber board that could hold spikes as well as Homasote does so I'd recommend anyone thinking about using this stuff to get a piece and try it for themselves.....DaveB

Spikes

I use flex track and track nails and a few spikes. The nails go in quite aways. If you are gluing down the ties there shouldn't be any issues. With flex track once ballast has been added then nails and or spikes don't matter very much.

One of those things that you might want to experiment with.

Jack

IVE DONE BOTH GLUE AND SPIKES

Ooops , did not realize caps were on ...lol... and it holds up great.. . As for sound deadening its great .. i was amazed at how quite it is... hmm but then again i only have 65 % of my hearing ..  but wear hearing aids and can say it does quiet the noise down good.. especially if you are running DCC with Sound locomotives..

@CTXMF74

Homasote is a long time used materials for workbench and roadbed .

It's hold good spike for sure.

The Micore I will use holds spikes probably better than Homasote and is probably cheaper and easier to find.

Micore doesn't need to be sealed like Homasote specially on the edge.

It's deadening sound too because it's one of his primary quality.

About dust, it's a real problem with all stuff we need to cut.

So if possible no cutting job in the layout room; use only parts already cut and far better already sealed.

No dust job in the layout room is my number one rule; this include the prohibition of plaster use for hardshell.