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 Post subject: mounting on foam board
PostPosted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:23 pm 
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Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2005 12:30 pm
Posts: 3
Location: British Columbia
On my layout I am using plywood, then then a sound board, then cork, then handlaid track and switches, with the soundboard and plywood I have no problems mounting things like ground throws, electrical contact switches, and electric switch throwers. I am adding a small module to the end of my layout for an engine house and service area which requires three handbuilt switches, fast tracks of course. I obtained a sheet of one and half inch blue foam board which i will be using as my base, very thin cork will be glued to the top of the foam, then the ties for the rail and swiches. My question is how do you attach and keep attached caboose industries ground throws, electrical contact switches or mount tortious switch machines onto the foam? The foam is dense enough but does not hold screws. Do I have to glue them in, hope not - incase need replacements, or do I have to cut out of the foam the area for the switch and replace it with wood where I build the switch on this, add the ground throws and electrical contact switch (which is required when building fast track switches to power route the frog) then set the assembled parts into the hole blocking them up to the proper height. Any advise would be appreciated as I have read all the positives about using the foam but nothing on this..Thanks..Ron..


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PostPosted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 9:46 am 
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Joined: Tue Nov 24, 2009 6:59 pm
Posts: 40
Greetings,

I have a section of track that runs on top of a short wall between two rooms. On this section I could not mount switch machines because of the 2x4 construction of the wall so I had to use ground throws. There is a layer of homosote and then cork for the track. The ground throws sit to the side of the switch and have a layer of cork under them. I then used nails driven through the cork into the homosote. The switch throws are very stable and I have no worries when my 5 yr. son operates them. For your setup with the blue foam you may want to cut out a recessed area under the ground throw and glue in either extra cork or homosote so the nails have a better grip to hold the throw in place.

I have also seen a complete hole cut in foam with a recessed edge at both ends of the hole to allow for a small piece of wood to be mounted under the turnout. This is then used to mount the switch machine.

I am not sure what electrical contact switches you are refering to so I will leave this for another person to answer.

I hope this helps.

Christopher


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PostPosted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 4:39 pm 
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Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2010 4:13 pm
Posts: 9
Location: Indiana
I just mounted my first Tortise through 2" foam. I used a trick I saw on the web.
I cut a square piece of thin hobby plywood, drilled the holes and screwed the tortise to the plywood as if it were the underboard. The screws I used poked out about 1/4 inch.
Then I used Adhesive Caulking (my new favorite all-purose train glue !) to glue the wood to the underside of the foam. Then ran the (thicker .037" ) wire up trhough the foam to the turnout.
Because the caulking takes a while to dry I could adjust the positioning slightly. The screws poking through the wood help "secure" the board to the foam ... while providing no secure attachment, it kept them board from sliding around while the caulking was wet.

I then clamped the whole thing for the night.
It worked great. By screwing to the board I am hoping if I need to replace the turnout by just using screws leaving the wood in place.

Next day, perfect action.
-David
(http://trains.calldei.com)


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