# Questions about cork track borders



## txronharris (Jun 1, 2005)

I've decided to go with HO train cork roadbed for my borders around my track since it's the same height. The questions are: 

What do you use to glue it to the track and how do you hide the seam?

I'm going to be painting the track grey, so would I just use some kind of filler material and then sand it before painting?

Can I use the same type of filler to hide the cork as I do to hide the seams between the AFX track pieces?

Does painting the cork get rid of the cork texture so it'll blend into the track and not look like an afterthought? 

Thanks in advance for your help!


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## twolff (May 11, 2007)

I'm using Tomy track and tried a section of cork border. It is close, but not the same height as the track and would need to be shimmed up to work. You might want to make certain that the cork you have chosen really is the same thickness as the track and that it has a consistent thickness from piece to piece.

I decided to use the border material sold at http://www.hoslotcarracing.com/ and am waiting for it to arrive. I'm planning on updating my track thread here when the time comes.


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## resinmonger (Mar 5, 2008)

All of the cork road beds that I've tried to use require some amount of shimming to sit flush with the track surface. I have seen a number of tracks go that route with great success but I don't have the patience myself.


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## gonegonzo (Jan 18, 2006)

I don't know about TOMY but on TYCO if you put a layer of the foam from laminated flooring under the cork , tack it down then cut the excess foam off, it leaves a flush boarder.

Gone Gonzo


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Best guesstimate....*

Tomy track is 7mm. The cork roadbed I used was 5mm. I bought the largest sheets I could find to try and make most of my borders in one full piece or to at least try to keep gaps to a minimum. The sections I bought were 11-3/4 x 36. I traced the track sections onto paper, cut the templates out, and then used those to trace onto the cork for cutting. To bring it up to track level I got foam sheets from the craft store (Michael's Crafts) that were 2mm thick. I cut those to match each cork piece. Hot glued the foam down and then hot glued the cork onto that. Since I was not going to paint mine, a "precise" fit was not too much of an issue. The cork by the way, can be sanded on it's surface if you have any height issues and the edges can also be smoothed up. I have some black modeling clay I will be filling the cracks with on my layout (one of these days). Painting with acrylic craft store paint went pretty good. The acrylic paint does not get soaked in like some of the more watery paints do. The surface resembles asphalt and you could probably get real close to your track color by mixing colors.

cork...
http://www.cchobbies.com/track/Midwest cork.htm 

foam sheets...
http://www.stainedglassoriginals.com/kidscraftsupplies_foamsheets.html 

paint...
http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayProductPage?productNum=cp0294&channelid=


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## resinmonger (Mar 5, 2008)

Tdj241 has the patience that I lack and has achieved really sweet results on his track. I salute Tdj241 for both his skilz and his obvious depth of patience. Cork On, man! :thumbsup:


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## rudykizuty (Aug 16, 2007)

I shimmed mine with sticky backed felt and just tacked them in place with RR track nails. Makes it pretty easy to adjust them or remove them if I need to. I sprayed them black but did not get into it fillers or anything like that. I mostly run magnet cars so my borders are there mainly for show.


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## wm_brant (Nov 21, 2004)

Ron --

You don't need to glue the cork roadbed down. Apparently at least some model railroad folk use inexpensive brad nailers to fix the cork down. See Cork Roadbed Clinic for more details.

The advantage of brads/tacks is that there is no drying time, which is an issue when you are bending the cork around turns. Using an electric nailer allows you to lay the cork pretty quickly. 

I've also heard that for the smoothest joint, you should not butt the cork sections together, but rather cut the ends so the they meet at an angle.

If you want the cork to look like smooth plastic, you will need to do some filling and sanding. However, does the borders really have to look just like the roadbed? Your borders could be a different shade of gray, to make them look like older asphalt or gravel, or even brush gray paint over cork painted green -- the green 'cracks' in the cork would then look like grass growing through somewhat broken up asphalt. Or gray over black, and the black showing through would then look like the rubber 'marbles' that collect on the outside of 1:1 track turns.

-- Bill


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## mahorsc (Mar 26, 2008)

3m makes double sided tape that sticks cork down and brings it to track level
i dont kown part # it has a green checker backing can buy at wal mart or auto parts last roll i bought was from home depot





tjd241 said:


> Tomy track is 7mm. The cork roadbed I used was 5mm. I bought the largest sheets I could find to try and make most of my borders in one full piece or to at least try to keep gaps to a minimum. The sections I bought were 11-3/4 x 36. I traced the track sections onto paper, cut the templates out, and then used those to trace onto the cork for cutting. To bring it up to track level I got foam sheets from the craft store (Michael's Crafts) that were 2mm thick. I cut those to match each cork piece. Hot glued the foam down and then hot glued the cork onto that. Since I was not going to paint mine, a "precise" fit was not too much of an issue. The cork by the way, can be sanded on it's surface if you have any height issues and the edges can also be smoothed up. I have some black modeling clay I will be filling the cracks with on my layout (one of these days). Painting with acrylic craft store paint went pretty good. The acrylic paint does not get soaked in like some of the more watery paints do. The surface resembles asphalt and you could probably get real close to your track color by mixing colors.
> 
> cork...
> http://www.cchobbies.com/track/Midwest cork.htm
> ...


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## eastside johnny (May 13, 2008)

Years ago the cork was the same thickness as slot cat track, but got thinner, I guess to save cost. Since then, when I've used it I laid a bead of hot glue with the glue gun which also glued the outside of the track along with the cork. With a thick enough bead of glue, you can get the edge of the cork right even with the edge of the track, and then it will drop off slightly off grade away from the track. I alsp one time got sheets of cork that were just the right thickness when doubled up. I used a metel yardstick as a cutting guide and mad lots of strips & then laid it down in double thickness. Still good after 20 years!


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## txronharris (Jun 1, 2005)

I appreciate all your replies. I'm going to get a couple cork strips from the train store and play with it before I start laying the track down. I'm planning on using it all the way around my four lane track and cutting it at angles to fool the eye that the cars are apexing corners and moving back and forth on the straights. I'm going to use the red/white borders that someone posted in another thread in the corners to further enhance the illusion of the cars apexing them.

I'm going to use minimal scenery so while I won't have a true "racers" layout, I'll have something that'll hold some visual appeal. I think it'll make for something interesting, especially for a door size layout.

I hope I'm not over thinking this, but I figure if I take the time to get this all figured out before I start getting my track down, I'm going to be much happier with the final product. Thanks again for all the help!


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Half the battle....*



txronharris said:


> I figure if I take the time to get this all figured out before I start getting my track down, I'm going to be much happier with the final product.


There are many ways to do cork. Buy some samples, try some different applications using what you can find, and what you can afford to work with. You really have the right idea already... Take your time... You'll see pretty quickly what works for you and what looks like it will give you the best results. nd


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## pshoe64 (Jun 10, 2008)

*Balsa Shims*

Midwest makes a 1/16" x 1" x 36" Balsa plank that brings the roadbed level with Tyco or Tomy track. It's easy to cut and glues down tight with white glue.



















-Paul


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## txronharris (Jun 1, 2005)

pshoe64 said:


> Midwest makes a 1/16" x 1" x 36" Balsa plank that brings the roadbed level with Tyco or Tomy track. It's easy to cut and glues down tight with white glue.-Paul


Good idea Paul. I don't know why I didn't think about balsa wood. It's cheap and easy to work with. Thanks for the tip!


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## tasman (Feb 17, 2007)

*Cover the top?*

An alternative would be to lay the cork flat and put material on the top to bring it to the level of the track. This may sound funny but I did just that.

This is from another post of mine some time ago...

I used cork borders and a small electric craft staple gun to attach them to the table. They are a little lower than the height of the track, so I bought some sheet toolbox liner from Sears. I used the curved track itself to make a template for each size curve and cut the toolobox liner accordingly.

The final step is to glue the toolbox liner pieces on top of the cork border. I used craft glue. It holds well enough, but you can pull up the liner and re-glue if necessary. The thickness of the toolbox liner makes the finished product very close to level with the track surface.

The toolbox liner has some texture to it so it kinda looks like asphalt. My T-jets seem to slide ok on this surface. Click on My Photos and you can see how the borders look when finished.


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Hey Ron,
This has already been mentioned, but I used 3M double sided foam tape too. It worked great, shimmed the cork up and held it in place to boot.










Let us know when you get it up and runnin!
Rich :thumbsup:


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## SwamperGene (Dec 1, 2003)

Sticky backed felt, available in craft stores including WalMart's craft section works perfectly. Use the cork as a guide, zip the felt into cork-width strips, and stick it to the bottom of the cork. A handful of strategically placed LL railroad nails finish the job.


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

There's a pretty thorough discussion of this topic almost exactly a year ago at

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=203598

It was the first time I heard about Swamper Gene's brilliant use of sticky-backed felt to shim the cork. Just cutting and sticking a straight strip of felt and letting it bend with the cork has to be much easier than custom-cutting bits of other shim material to fit around the track.

-- D


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## rudykizuty (Aug 16, 2007)

Dslot said:


> There's a pretty thorough discussion of this topic almost exactly a year ago at
> 
> http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=203598
> 
> ...


I did it this way after reading Gene's post......worked out great for me :thumbsup:


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## yankee_3b (Dec 14, 2008)

*Cork track borders*

As mentioned the cork borders are slightly thinner than the track. What I did was to buy some thin cork shelving paper that has one sticky side, cut it to the width of the border and lay that down first next to the track. Then when you put down the border it will match up perfectly. I only painted a strip next to my pit lane without sealing the seam. I used rustoleum flat black and it matches pretty well to the color concentration of the Tomy track, however, it does not have the shine the track has. I don't know how the track would look if that was sprayed with the flat black. By spraying the cork it does not lose it's texture and still retains the same drifting quality as the plain cork. I used a strong wood glue and very tiny "black" flat-head nails to secure the cork. They blend in fine with the natural train-bed cork, but would be more noticable if you painted the cork. I also tried to counter-sink the nails, but it left a dimpling affect in the cork. I've attached some close-up pics for you to view. It looks worse in these close-ups than at a normal eyes view. The natural cork bedding, in my opinion, looks better than when you try to paint it because you don't focus as much on the seam as you would if it were the same color as long as you do a good job securing it next to the track. The other problem that you could run into is that the track and cork are much different in composition and and temperature and humidity changes could cause the seams to separate unless your track is in a climate controlled environment. If there was a way to seal the cork so the cork wouldn't absorb the paint it would probably come out better overall. Wish I had better info for you. Good Luck and let me know how you make out.


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## resinmonger (Mar 5, 2008)

Wow, there's some really fantastic detail shown in those photos, Yankee_3B. How about posting more of your track? I'm sure everyone would like to see it. I know that I would.


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## RiderZ (Feb 19, 2007)

*!!!*

WOW Yankee-You must let us see more of your layout.The scenery looks fantastic!:thumbsup:


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## yankee_3b (Dec 14, 2008)

I've posted 12 pics in my photo gallery. Hope you enjoy them. By the way I'm looking to sell this track. Can't wait to build another one. Thanks for the nice comments.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Of course it looks familiar ...Nuther Dave just had some pics of this awesome layout up a few weeks ago!


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## resinmonger (Mar 5, 2008)

Bill Hall said:


> Of course it looks familiar ...Nuther Dave just had some pics of this awesome layout up a few weeks ago!


Yeah, wasn't it on eSpay? It made me want to drive to NV and get it but the TM would have taken me to the animal shelter and had me neutered. It is a very impressive display of scenery design.

Russ...wants to keep 'em...the Hutt :drunk::hat::freak::dude:


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

Cork roadbed does have a bending limit, doesn't it? I bought a couple pieces for trial, and when I tried to bend it around the inside of three 6" 1/8 curves, the cork split. I'm guessing the bend limit is the outside of a 6" or the inside of a 9" curve. Does that sound right?

Joe


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## yankee_3b (Dec 14, 2008)

*Cork Track Borders*

:thumbsup:You can get the cork to bend inside the 6" radius curves by cutting wedges out of the cork. Cut a wedge every 1/4" starting the point of the wedge 1/8" from the edge of the cork that borders the against the track. The wide end of the wedge should be between 1/16"- 1/8" wide. Use care when bending the cork because it will tear at the point of the wedge. When bending the cork make sure you keep adequate pressure in to the track and down on the cork at all times. Make sure you have fresh, supple cork...if it's dried out it won't work. Good Luck!


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## txronharris (Jun 1, 2005)

I don't recall this being mentioned, but when using cork in model railroading, I sometimes soaked it in the tub in some water to soften it up so I could get it to bend as I need. I'd figure if you did that, it would bend around the inside of a tight turn. Once it dries, it holds its shape pretty good too. I'll be doing this when I use the cork on my layout.


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## rideinstile (Dec 26, 2007)

Well, I just need to add something here. I've been working on our 4x12 layout and found out some things right here, and some by accident. First off, the tip about using double sided tape is right on the money, in fact I have a better one yet, I went to Ace hardware and bought their brand, it's a little narrower, but perfect height and fits perfect underneith the cork. Just needed a small nail in the beginning and end of each piece. I ran out of cork and the hobby store I use only had it for N scale. I got 11 pieces very cheap so it was worth a shot. It's narrower, and thinner, and couldn't find anything just right. Well, there were some Home Depot paint stirrers laying aroound, and guess what, perfect height, I cut them in 1 inch pieces and am using a Power shot stapler, so far, so good. I'll let you guys know how it all works later. Ps, with the N scale you need to keep two pieces side by side to the right width to match the Ho scale. Have fun, Dave:wave:


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## rideinstile (Dec 26, 2007)

Alright, forget the whole last post, that last idea just did not work. Back to get ho scale cork and go back to what I started with, because that was working out much better. Oh well. Dave


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

I was playing around with a piece of cork roadbed I bought a long time ago. My track is on carpet, so using an adhesive to hold it down is not an option for me as I don't want to make a mess of the carpet should I decide to change layouts.

It looks to me as if regular old craft sticks (popsickle sticks) you can find at the dollar store are the perfect height to bring the cork up to Tyco/Mattel track height. Just place them under the cork and nail through them. You can probably get these sticks in wider widths if you don't want to use the skinny ones.

I also have to try that water treatment on a small piece of cork, although the piece I have seems to already have a good bend limit of the outside of a 6" curve. 

Joe


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## txronharris (Jun 1, 2005)

All of these ideas work great. I used "O" scale cork for my border experiment which was a bit thicker than HO scale cork.


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