New Supplier

https://www.cwhomaroad.com/

James

This type of product always

This type of product always  seemed expensive to me.  So I alwas wonder how much call there is for it and who uses it.

It is about $180 for 24 strips.  (About a full sheet worth). Or about 6’ per stop for labor/shop expenses.  
or looking at it another way a 300’ mainline with three 20’ passing sidings is something like $300 plus sidings.  
So I guess it would not be horrible for some layouts.

in my case i have a large layout so it would be crazy expensive.  $660 for the mainlines.    $70 for passing sidings. And about $130 for yards, add in $350 for sidings and branch lines and we are up to about $1200 this is not counting turnouts.  Or about $200 in material costs and $1000 in labor/shop costs.  So I am thinking this is more likely to be used on small layouts?

I mean it sounds nice to not have to mess with it and I do like homasote as I like to spike my track so I can tweak it as needed.  So I guess if you can afford it, 

-Doug M

Cost?

From what I read its $7.50 for 8 ft. or less than a dollar a foot.  $180 is for 24 PACKS of 8 ft.  That means $180 covers 192 ft of track.  I have about 150 ft of main line, so that would be less than $145 for the entire main line.  I only do the main track and don't put it under yards, sidings or industry tracks. The reason I use it is to elevate the main track on a ballast section.  Same reason people use cork roadbed.

Just depends on what you want the look of your railroad to be and whether or not you hand lay your track.  Cork roadbed is about $.75 a foot so its not that much more expensive than cork.

Homabed is nice, but cork may be better for tight budgets.

I bought some Homabed some years back and really liked it.  I can see the draw.  As a matter of fact, I used sheet Homasote for my yard areas, but I'm using cork for the mainlne, partly because it works fine and there was no Homabed available when I started my layout.  Cork roadbed is less expensive too.

Good news!!

Jim,

There is very good news for fans of homasote roadbed.  There is a new company called Central & Western Homaroad Supply.  Below is a link to the site.  They are pretty new and I did place an order with them.  My order number is 1003, so I suspect that I'm customer number 3.  The guys are super to work with.  Great communication and turnaround was fast, especially considering that my entire order was cut to my specification.  I was a previous customer of Cascade Rail Supply.  The new C&W roadbed is wider than the old Cascade Rail Supply roadbed.  I asked if they could cut it to match the width of my Cascade Rail Supply roadbed.  I supplied the dimensions.  I received my order a couple of weeks ago and I am super happy with what I received.  What I received is a perfect match to my Cascade Rail roadbed.  Quality of everything I received is perfect.  I would highly recommend them to any fans of homasote roadbed.  

I also had them custom cut some turnout pads to match my old Cascade Rail Supply #6 and #8 turnout pads that are dimensioned for Fast Tracks.  I supplied templates based off turnout pads that are already on my layout.  They have now added that as a standard item available to everybody.  Again, these turned out perfect.

Happy Modeling!!

Mark Mincek

https://www.cwhomaroad.com

Damn! I recently laid cork

Damn! I recently laid cork for a road bed on a new module. If only I knew about this new outfit.

sheets

a 4 x 8 sheet of 1/2 homosote is $36 at Menards in WI

there are 21 strips, 8' long at 2 1/8" width, cut square, and then cut down the middle at an angle

for a total of   168 ft   or  $0.21 per foot  for complete strip

a good 60 tooth finish blade cost about $15

you need a runout table (like a piece of plywood on sawhorses) and a small table saw

a shop vac helps but the finish blade makes very little dust and super smooth edges

by holding a handful of strips on edge with a miter gauge in the saw, making a series of cuts for slots to allow bending is simple. If you do this as you go, you only slot the areas where you need it.

I was super happy with the whole process.

I also figured out that tubes of adhesive where expensive

I decided to try some FRP (plastic panel) adhesive (like ceramic tile adhesive) that comes in a tub

Found it works real well. After attaching the strips and using some drywall screws to hold it on curves, A quick sanding of the tops gets rip of bumps, and then a coat of adhesive gets spread to fill gouges and prime the surface. The latex type adhesives can loosen the homasote it you keep playing with it. Priming levels out the top and makes a thin second coat stick  fast as you set ties or track

On order

My order shipped today.  I will post pictures when I get it.

On the Homosote website they

On the Homosote website they list the material in 1/4" thickness but I have never found a local dealer that stocks that size.  I think that would be an ideal starting point for roadbed if it could be found.

I've never seen 1/4 inch

I've never seen 1/4 inch Homasote either.  Only half inch.

Theres another option too...

trackmanroadbed.com seems to be another option.  pricing looks a hair cheaper than cwhomaroad

You do have to be careful

You do have to be careful that any nails/spikes you may use are not longer then the honasote you are using is deep.

More an up issue with nails then spikes 

-Doug M.

CW Roaded takes over the abscence of pre milled Homasote

I sure was glad to read about their upcoming effort...and as soon as they were up and running, my order was in.  Granted a smaller layout, but the cost VERY competitive with anything else so WELL milled.  I haven't started laying track with it yet, that'll be in a month or so.  But CORK!  Ugh.  Ain't worth nuttin with laidlaying Codes 40-55-70-83 rail.

And, if you are lucky enough to have a Menards and you don't mind the mess, go for it! I've had enough of that routine beginning back in about 1969 to last me for EVER! 

But this stuff by CW is perfect!  I amd SO happy they started up.  It must be a pain to produce, but they seems to have experience (read that, some other model suppliers) with customers and filling their needs.  THAT"S A BIG DIFFERENCE.

CW Roadbed

I bought some (actually two orders) to complete my main track.  

The first order was kind of a disaster, but it started with an error on my part and CW was very helpful in trying to correct things.  The second went perfectly.  The orders were shipped quickly.

The roadbed was consistent thickness, but was slightly different than Homabed and California Roadbed (which were also slightly different than each other).    Nothing a little sanding wouldn't fix at the boundary between the old and the new road.  Also they each are a little bit different widths so there will be a slight difference between brands.

The roadbed did not appear as smooth as Homabed, but not enough to affect its performance.  The saw cuts in the curveable roadbed were smooth and even and cut at an angle.  It is also different from some other previous roadbed because the cuts are in alternating "sides".  That way when you lay the roadbed the cuts can always be on the side in compression (the inside of the curves).  

Overall, I was very satisfied with the product and am glad they have moved in to fill this void.

Good to see

It's really nice to see this being offered.  I plan to place an order very soon. 

Thanks, Dave for the good

Thanks, Dave for the good report on CW. 

I recently, bought out a fairly good supply of Cascade from an estate sale but I could use some more switch pads. I'll give them a try.

Barry 

But CORK! Ugh. Ain't worth nuttin

The way to use cork is to glue it to a sub roadbed of wood. The cork only needs to be thick enough to accept the length of the spikes that protrude thru the ties. I use 1/8 cork under my S scale ties and it works fine. Homabed is best for longer spikes or thinner ties as it's easier to push spikes into Homabed than into wood, but a soft wood like pine is not too bad.In the old days folks use TruScale pine roadbed and managed to spike rail to it but I guess folks were tougher back then :> ) ....DaveB