Which wood is best to use for your boards, ply, mdf, hardboard? 
thanks for any help, ollie

Plywood is considered by many to be the premier material as it is very stable and quite light but also strong for its relative thickness due to its laminated structure. There are several qualities of plywood with Marine Ply being the top quality. Birch faced ply is the next grade down and this is probably the best quality you will need for baseboard construction though WBP (weather and boil proof) plywood would also be quite adequate. Below this are various grades of construction plywood such as are used for concrete shuttering but these tend to be of poorer quality materials with less layers of laminate. Avoid these.

Other modellers swear by MDF though it is a heavy material compared to ply and, unless properly sealed can swell and distort if it gets wet.

Hardboard is not really suitable for baseboard construction as it bends too easily so needs a lot of additional support bracing to keep it level. It's main use is for backscene boards.

Great summary CH... I agree.  Marine ply if you will have it in the loft or shed where it may get hot and cold, or damp, and provided you can afford it.  I have used birch ply where i have large flat areas.

Trevor summarises it well Ollie, but you also need to consider where your layout will be for heat/cold considerations or is it going to be permanent or portable

its all down to preference, I have used MDF on my latest layout, on previous one i have used chipboard. Plywood is a good alterantive to MDF. it also depends on if you plan to use Fibreboard on top, to what thickness.

Also consider the frame work as well, because a good frame will allow thinner wood to be used. but the thinner the wood the smaller the lattice will have to be,

On my little layout, I'm using a small sheet of MDF with battens for strength; it's not sealed, but this is only a 4'x2' sheet as a test system, so I can experiment.  Works for me

On the main layout, odds are that this will be sealed ply on decent battens, probably in an open system.

Mike

Personnally I have always used sundeala or insulation board as it is easier to insert track pins once. I once tried plywood as an experiment and the track pins bent.

I don't think many people use track pins these days because of the way they can transmit track noise through to the board and, if pushed in too far, can distort the track.

The modern method is to glue a closed cell foam track bed to the board with a latex glue such as Copydex and then glue the track to that, again with Copydex. Drawing or map pins can be used to temporarily hold the track in position until the glue has dried and are then removed.

I've never had any problems using track pins the track doesn't distort unless you pin it too tightly.
How do you carryout track alterations if everything is glued down?

Dodger

I believe if you use copydex you can peel it up dodger, either that or the pressure is on to get it right first time 

Quote from: Lawrence on April 30, 2012, 05:42:31 PM
I believe if you use copydex you can peel it up dodger,

Yes, that's correct. It's a latex glue that can be easily peeled off.

I use track pins to hold things in place while doing all the pre-ballasting work - like testing the design, wiring, motors, fettling, timetables, usability, sizes ....

The important IMHO thing is not to drive them right in or try to use them to nail stuff into place under strong tensions. Once ballasted they are not needed.

PVA (real PVA not many of the woodworking glue variants) can be lifted with heat and water so providing you varnished the baseboard first (as you should - both sides) you can get the track back up with a bit of warm water and a hairdrier.

Personally I use Sundeala and pin the track once the formation is laid. I don't push them all the way in so that after ballasting I can just pull them out again

Quote from: newportnobby on April 30, 2012, 07:20:11 PM
Personally I use Sundeala and pin the track once the formation is laid. I don't push them all the way in so that after ballasting I can just pull them out again

Another Sundeala vote form me.
It does need good subframe work tho and sealing on both sides but thats easy enough to deal with

Sundeala board isn't the best of choices for a baseboard surface.
OK, it accepts pins easily but then so it should since it's actually made for Pin Boards, not model railway baseboards !

It sags quicker than you can say 'Baseboard' unless its really well supported by the underneath timber framing. It needs a good solid framing at not more than 12 inch (300mm) centres in all directions!

It's a product that Peco recommended in the 1970's or 80's and has unfortunately remained with us! A bit like Peco track 

It can be cut with a saw or a sharp large Stanley type knife. I haven't seen it sealed on the edges but equally I haven't used it, nor would I.

As I said earlier, the very best material for a baseboard surface IMO is Marine or Birch quality ply wood. Followed by WBP ply if the first two are not readily available. I use 9mm ply and haven't ever had a issue with it warping or sagging.

But in the end its your build and you use whatever you feel happy with but be aware that you may well end up with problems if you use Sundeala.