Frank Musick used foam without the hardboard splines:
“I don’t know if I care for the foam-no-hardboard idea so much
but I do like the foam,” says Alan. “This is where I got the idea. I
haven’t reached the point yet where I need to install the spline
(but I am close). When I do I am sandwiching foam between
hardboard.”
Brian Clogg built his roadbed with ¾” MDF (medium density
fiberboard), which he finds to be very stable. Spacer blocks are
¾” plywood ½” wide and the splines are ¼” wide. “I found that I
needed to support it at least every 16 inches,” Brian said. “I had
a section over a sink that was 30 inches long and it started to sag
so I glued a 2x4 underneath. This system has proven stable over
the years.”
Steve, at
has used Homasote
splines for more than 10 years and says he has “never had a
single regret … other than that I didn’t use more of them! I
had already started my former layout when I learned about
Homasote splines, and already had the benchwork in the more
track-dense areas done with Homabed on plywood. If I was
starting over, I’d either go with sheet Homasote over plywood
in those areas or splines throughout, depending on the num-
ber of tracks.”
Spline user Joe Atkinson says “I’ve had no problems with sea-
sonal humidity swings, and I’m in Iowa, so those swings are sig-
nificant. I found splines to be extremely easy, even enjoyable,
to work with, and when I switched from modeling the UP to the
IAIS and needed to rebuild my track arrangements in 2000, I was
able to reuse virtually all of the spline material.”
John recommends clear pine lath strips, about 3/16” to ¼”
thick, 1-1/8” wide and 16’ long, from the wood trim aisle at
Home Depot.
