I have Gargraves track. On part of the layout, I have rolled grass mat, on part I have very thin cork and on part I have rolled roofing material. I use these for the appearance, not the sound deadening properties, but I suspect the cork and the roofing material reduce the noise slightly. I don’t really notice much difference in noise level for the three materials. Gargraves track with its wooden ties is already fairly quiet.
When I built my current layout, I tried several different types of roadbed. My main goal was sound deadening, but the profile was also important.
I tried cork because that was what I had used in the past and was comfortable working with it. It did not do a very job of sound suppression in my opinion, but is very easy to work with.
I tried rubber and it was very good, but expensive.
Last I tried Woodland Scenics foam. It was by far the best for sound and had the profile I was looking for and was thin so it would take less ballast. I also tried sill gasket foam from Home Depot. It was as good for sound, least expensive, but I would have had to hand cut the bevel for the profile.
So I used the sill gasket in all my tunnels where you can't see it and WS foam everywhere else. I did not use it in my yards because I wanted a lower profile compared to the mainlines and trains go so slow there that the sound wasn't an issue.
I sampled three different foam products, and I found some on eBay that looks and feels every bit as good as Woodland Scenic's roadbed, but it's half the price. That's what I'm using.
Cork on On30, Woodland Scenics foam on O. The foam is quieter, but it has less "memory" than cork. If you put a knee on it while crawling on top of the layout, it will leave a depression.
My tubular track is on homasote over plywood. I have added extra rubber ties to improve the look of the track. Ground cover near the rails is chicken grit. I do not ballast in the gauge.
As some guy named “Vern” pointed out elsewhere, I don’t have a layout yet, but I plan on using 1” insulation board on top of plywood with cork roadbed under the mainline tracks...
Well, I suspect it's pretty much of a dead heat. Also, I'm guessing a lot depends on what's under the roadbed. I tried to do as much as I could to make the base layout quiet. All the parts of the main layout are solidly attached, no chance of the plywood vibrating on the benchwork below, etc. Then there's a layer of Homasote to add to the vibration deadening properties of the table.
First layer is 1/2 inch OSB screwed to the framework then 3/4 inch high density foam glued down using silicone caulk. Then the track is glued to the foam with the same silicone caulk. Since mine is an industrial layout, I don't need a raised roadbed for a main line.
3/4” plywood, 1/2” homasote, cork on mains, nothing in yards. Ross track and turnouts, Brennan’s ballast on all. No noise.
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