Homabed

I like the Homabed product from Cal Roadbed http://www.homabed.com/. 

As for full sheets of Homasote - If your local dealer won't sell retail, do you know a contractor that will order it for you?  I did just that with some tile for my house - a contractor I knew had it ordered through his account and I picked it up from his supplier.  Another option is to order through a retail outlet (your typical Home Depot will look at you funny but can usually still get it).

luan door skin

I used luan plywood on my Sn3 layout.  Still in good shape after 30 plus years, sometimes in some rather severe environments.

Terry

homabed

If you are gluing wood ties onto the roadbed I recommend homabed - a paper product that will adhere to the ties.  It also allows the occasional too-far spike penetration to enter the homabed .

You can buy homabed online at http://www.homabed.com/  More expensive than buying and cutting a sheet but with much less mess from sawdust and a more uniform product.

Art

Thank you all for the

Thank you all for the information. I now know homabed and homasote are composed of the same materials. The homabed is milled thinner.

I am curious of what other people who lay their own rails use for roadbed material.

Gary

Cork

I'm using cork for the first time with hand laying, and have had zero problems. Mind you it's only been a year since the first spikes went in, and my space is pretty regulated per the environmental concerns, but it's worked pretty well.

What I think occurs is that the ties themselves hold the spikes - it has little if anything to do with the roadbed. Sure, if the roadbed is not penetrable (I even tried spiking to ties right on MDF, for example, and that was a utter failure) you'll have issues, but once the ties are glued down to cork or homosoate, I'm having a hard time telling the difference.

Hope this helps.

Roadbed

Curious. do you glue your cork to the substrate and then spike the ties into the cork?  Or are you using longer spikes that also penetrate into the substrate?  Have seen both done with very good results.