About Tracklay, Model Railway Underlay

Tracklay (TM)  is a high-density granite grey foam underlay 1.5mm (1/16th inch) thick for OO/HO gauge and 0.8mm thick for Z gauge.  For OO gauge it is 35mm wide, (for Z 16mm wide and N 19mm wide). It is coated on the top surface with a "high grab" adhesive. The  closed cell foam is plastic in nature  and therefore very flexible allowing its use on flexible track or pre-bent curves. Unlike normal  open cell foam underlays it will not break down and crumble over time either.
In use Tracklay (TM) , your track is applied to the sticky side, which is then pinned to your layout board in the usual way. A bead of PVA adhesive is then run along each edge of the underlay before covering the whole with your chosen ballast and then tamping down well. once the PVA glue has set the surplus ballast can be brushed off and collected for re-use. I actually use a new vacuum bag and a modified vacuum nozzle ( to reduce the suction a little) and suck up the excess ready for the next time.

Alternatively each section of track can be ballasted before being placed on the board and pinning and then the side bead added once all the track is laid. Most moddellers will have a preferred system.

Because the ballast is only a granule thick it goes much further than with conventional methods of ballasting.
Points and crossings are no problem, just double up the Tracklay(TM) and shape with a craft knife after the point/crossing has been pinned down, then ballast.

As the ballast is not coated with glue it will not change colour and remains realistic.

Tracklay(TM) is an inexpensive underlay and the ease and speed with which you can achieve a superb result must be seen to be believed. As a bonus your trains will run quieter and smoother.

We can now supply ballast chippings to suit, please see main Tracklay menu.

Click on the Shop menu to purchase.