-
Laying the Cork
Following the completion of the benchwork, I began laying the cork roadbed. This process began on October 29th, 2025, when I drew lines with a sharpie, indicating where the track would go. The next day, I lay the first piece of cork, and for the next dozen days, that was all I did. I am using Midwest brand N scale cork roadbed that is glued down using the same Liquid Nails for Projects I used to secure the foam to the plywood. I would leave a bead of glue along the track line and spread it out. I found that using a gloved finger worked far better for spreading out the glue than a putty knife. Then, I took the piece of cork and lay it along the line, pinning it in place with thumbtacks as I went. There were a few places where the unevenness of the foam forced me to place something else beneath it to help level it out.
At the time, it felt like it took a long time to lay the cork. In reality, it took less than 2 weeks to lay all the cork and sand it to shape. I was ready to start laying track in no time.
