Dark cork track bed, 6 x 0.6 m

Dark cork bed for track, 3.6 meters

Cork strips in a dark finish for building a bed under track. The box contains six strips of sixty centimeters each, three point six meters in total. Two strips laid together always give a finished bed with slopes beveled at an angle of forty-five degrees.

What dark cork does better

The difference from the light finish lies in how the material shows through. Ballast never covers a bed perfectly and small gaps remain between the grains. With light cork a pale patch appears in them; with dark cork it merges with the shadow between the stones. The dark version therefore forgives less careful pouring of the ballast and suits everywhere the track is seen close up.

How to lay the strips

• Draw the route on the baseboard and glue the strips along the line
• Lay two strips together so that slopes form on both sides
• Glue with PVA glue and weigh them down until dry
• On curves, nick the strip slightly on the outside
• Sand the joints flat

Who it is for

For layout builders who are laying out a line and want the permanent way ready without cutting their own shapes. The manufacturer is a German company specializing in scenery accessories, and production takes place in Germany. At turnouts and station areas the cork strips are made up with a sheet of the same material, which the modeler cuts as needed. Before you flood the bed with ballast, run the heaviest train over the line; repairing unevenness under glued ballast is extra work.