It is cold! The Man Cave is less then inviting. In fact it feels more like a freezer in there but I did spend an hour or so in there testing my cold weather tolerance before calling it a day. I did actually make some visual progress on my Last Great Project 00 gauge layout. Doing anything in there requiring glue or paint to dry at the moment is just not going to work. So I have been fitting some underlay to the track.
This has two purposes. Firstly it should raise the track slightly above the baseboard level allowing the ballast when eventually applied to have a shoulder to it. This replicates real life where the purpose of ballast is to provide a firm base but also to facilitate drainage so it has to stand proud of the surrounding ground. Secondly as the baseboard is sheet ply on a wooden frame it acts like a speaker enhancing the rumble of trains travelling over the track. By using an underlay this deadens the sound - well that is the theory!
You can buy propriety underlays for track and Hornby and Peco do a foam underlay with indents for the sleepers to fit into making it all look like ballast. I have tried these in the past and although they look OKish the foam does break down into dust after about 10 years or so. I prefer laying model ballast which looks better and lasts better. So my underlay just needs to be long lasting as it will be covered. Over the years I have laid various laminate flooring at the behest of Mrs. Woody. Part of the process is to lay an underlay on the floor which is a foam sheet about 3mm thick onto which the laminate is placed. I know it lasts to as I used some off cuts as underlay on another layout and it is still solid. As I have some spare sheets of this foam in stock that is what I am using.
Hope that it gets a bit warmer in the next few days!
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