Ceiling Tile - Model Railroader Magazine

 Hi Don7,

my layout uses ceiling tile instead of cork roadbed.  I came across this idea from a fellow modeler a few years ago. 

Tried to get homasote but can not purchase it here in Canada, so ceiling tile looked like a good substitute.  None of my ceiling tile was sealed but if the room is temperature and humidity controlled it should not affect it.  Also when you put the wet water on to glue down the ballast, it also glues down the track.  This is important because the nails that hold the track in place initially are very loose and all they can do is keep the flex track from changing the way it was put down.  It is also not good to run your sound engines over the tracks at this stage because a powerful magnet will actually remove the  nails.  Again once the tracks are ballasted the glue holds the tracks and spikes in place and it seems to seal everything quite good.  

The nice thing about working with ceiling tile is that it is easy to file it into the shape you want it to be.  It is also quite cheap.

I hope this helps.

Frank