Model Railway Forum

I have seen insulation board recommended to make an elevated track level and hillside and wondered if anyone else has used this?

I've certainly used polystyrene insulation board for hills/tunnels. I bought a pack of Jablite from B&Q (1200x450x50 - four sheets £19.00) - it's black, and I just layered it - glued with No-Nails and held together with wooden kebab skewers, and then cut to shape with a hot-wire. If you were having your elevated track on one level, I suppose you could use the Jablite - it's quite dense. If you are thinking of inclines, I think you would be better using wood, although you can get a foam incline set - may be Woodland Scenics(?). If you are building an incline, 1" in 30" is about the minimum incline you should go for - 1 in 40 -50 or even longer is even better. With the hillside, I covered it all in plaster-bandage and then painted it brown. I've shown below the tunnel/hill I built using the method described above - this is used as a break between the scenic part of the layout and the fiddle yard, and by using the tunnel portals at each end as hand-holds, I can life the whole thing off of the layout - it very light.

IMG_0521 by Barry Clayton, on Flickr

Thanks for that Bulleidboy