Midwest Products3013 Railroad Cork HO Cork Roadbed

I have been using this product for years. Before I lay down any track, I put down this road bed. It is easy to cut with a utility knife. I bends easily to match curves. Each piece is scored and can be easily torn apart. This gives two pieces. One side is straight and the other side it tapered. The two straight sides are then placed together, giving the road bed a taper on each side. I use standard track nails to nail it down to my platform. Others use glue but I like to reuse the road bed when I change my layout. I try to make is as straight as possible, so that when I lay the track down, I just need to center the nails holes for the track on the joint between the two pieces. While I have read that older material drys out and is harder to form in a curve, I have not had that problem. I have included a picture of my layout under construction. I design the layout in software and then transfer the sizes to the platform to ensure that the layout goes together correctly.

The cork comes in 36 inch lengths and is sheared in half with a bevel cut. Although the sheared edges are a little rough, a light sanding smooths them enough for ballast. The split pieces are flexible enough to use on a 22" radias curve and get smooth results. I use a Dap adhesive to hold the cork in place on foam board and am happy with the results.

This is terrific stuff to use for road bed under HO track. Very flexible (no need to wet) and secures to foam board like I am using or plywood, using white glue. Use push pins to hold cork down while gluing (be careful when putting the tacks directly into wood that you don't break the end of the tack into your thumb). Very easy to cut as well, with a razor blade, razor knife or utility knife.

Used for roadbed for Ho layout a great product and good value for your money

This is an excellent product, easy to use. It comes packaged in a secure box designed to hold the product perfectly.

Very reasonably priced and really looks good. I just sprinkle a little ballast over the seam and it really simplifies the whole ballasting operation. It is very supple but a little tough, make certain you use new razor blades or a good sharp modeling knife to shape it. The only negative I have is the residue left on the top side of one of the two halves when you separate the two pieces. I carefully trimmed the residue with a sprue cutter. It was a little time consuming. It would be better if it were cut all the way through at the factory.

Works as expected

Awesome for track work