Hi,

as for your roadbed, using some (ply-)wood, masonite or such is common practice, but you might want to consider putting that on top of the foam beads, so you'll get drainage trenches ;-) Also you'll have some space to build up your scenery.

As for your material to use for scenery... On my N-Scale layout I've successfully tried a number of things.

1) Heavy cardboard (from packaging), to build risers with the scenery contour cut out, put cardboard on top, spackle & paint.

2) Soft foam cut to scenery contour, then grab a box of old newspapers and some wall-paper glue. Shred the newspaper and put the shredded pieces on top of the foam (multiple layers). This gives a fairly stiff shell, with the foam left below. Spackle & paint.

3) A fancy scenery-building kit someone gave me as a present (nice, but I like the previous ones better as you can design the scenery as you go).

It turned out that method (1) is better for fairly flat contours (train station, ...) which will profit from a cardboard base if you use (2). Method (2) gives great results for hills, mountains and any other contoured terrain.

With the paper-shell (method 2), it is easy to blend wooden base-board, cardboard sections, etc.

The soft foam I used is very difficult to drill properly. You might have issues with the bead board too. Plan to put in drinking straws when building your scenery wherever you anticipate some wires have to be run.

As for my spackle mix, I mix it with lots of coarse sawdust (soak the sawdust, put in the plaster/spackle powder and stir). This gives an uneven surface (for fields and woodlands), but also reduces weight and increases stability.

Hope you can use any of this! Have fun!

Edit: in your case, just replace my "soft foam" with your "free bead board foam" for method 2 ;-)

I too model with an extremely tight budget. My pink foam came as an extra sheet that did not get used on a job I was working. My scenery is plaster soaked paper towels colored with closeout priced craft paints heavily diluted. My grasses are left over from my last RR project. My trees are dried caspia flocked with ground foam mixed with static grass. My layout is on a 36" x 36" yardsale coffee table. Control of my 3 tracks is by 2 old bachmann power packs that were given to me and a varipulse throttle I had on my switching layout. My motive power all came by way of eBay. Rolling stock I have was also given to me but most of it needs tune up work and minor repair along with new couplers. The track I got for cheap from a LHS around the corner from home and it's all atlas code 55 flex. So far I have a whopping $150 invested. My country scenes are mostly completed. My city scenes will be created using model builder from Evan designs and foam core and cereal boxes as soon as I get ink for my printer.
As to your questions. PVA type glues work for almost every model layout need including track laying. The bonus being that a soaking with alcohol will soften it if you need to move something. The different track types should most likely play nice with each other as long as rail joiners join them together. Roadbed track in some cases can be removed from the roadbed if your careful doing it.
The most important thing to remember is that it's not what you spend but what you get from it that matters most.
I look forward to seeing picture of your layout as it progresses.

While mining for bargains and finding ways to stretch your budget you might consider on line purchases of supplies and various items. The freight cost is generally modest if one buys in any quantity and is generally cheaper than a long distance drive to go and get something. In many cases you will also save the state sales tax which is likely to be close to the cost of shipping.

I suggest this as I have similar long distances to travel to get things as you do and you seem to be able to manage the internet well enough to handle what ever comes up in this regard. The other big savings is in something we all have a limited amount of and that is time. Good luck with your travel trailer build it sounds like it will make for a nice layout with your theme.

Sounds like you have got a pretty good layout started, keep up the good work I'm not sure what you mean by the letters "PVA" glue. I think it is referring to that clear liquid glue that modelers use on balsa wood of  R.C. model aircraft. If so, Then I can't use it as I used to do Radio Control ships, boats and aircraft, and I used it all the time. But unfortunately I had to give that up because for some reason I suddenly developed a high allergic reaction sensitivity to that particular type of glue and now even the smell of it gets me nauseated and then I have to suddenly go kneel in front of the porcelain throne. (I even have to leave the house or the beauty salon when my daughter who is a licensed cosmetologist uses it on a clients nails). Oh I also found out something from experimentation yesterday. The petroleum distillates in Contact Cement (commonly called Monkey snot) will actually melt white beaded foam, even if it is painted first, and the paint is totally dry. So I decided against using foam on my layout. So, yesterday, I totally replaced the foam upper level shelf of my layout with 1/2 inch plywood on short 2 x 4 supports. and I will probably go back to using my old method of using cardboard strips overlaid with newspapers soaked in drywall mud for my mountainous scenery. I also just got through painting 3/4 of the bench work with a grass green base coat prior to getting ready to lay some of the track work. May the Saints of the great god of model railroading treat you with a great run of fortune and good luck, LOL :). Anyway, Happy Model Railroading to you.     the old prospector.

Hi Prospector, "PVA Glue" is white glue (or its variants).  That's all it is.

Andrew

Hi Prospector

The glue you are referring to  using on RC boats and aircraft is CyanoAcrylate (CA or super glue). Most CA types are not compatible with EPS foam and allergic reactions to CA is a common problem.

Polyvinyl acetate PVA Glue  is a component of a widely used glue type, commonly referred to as wood glue, white glue, carpenter's glue, school glue, Elmer's glue (in the US), or PVA glue.   Some other useful information:

PVA (Polyvinyl acetates) are probably the most common adhesive on the market. They come in a variety of formulas, all ever so slightly different, and specific to what they are designed to glue. Here are some tips for using Polyvinyl acetates.

• All PVAs are designed to work on porous materials only
• PVAs are water based, and clean up with warm soapy water.
• PVA is only toxic to ingest, it does not emit any harmful fumes, and is not hazardous to touch
• PVA sets best in good air circulation, at room temperature.
• PVAs need pressure to adhere, see our info on clamping.
• Most PVAs are not water proof. The yellow PVAs have a higher moisture resistance than the white ones, but neither are completely water proof.
• Never allow your PVAs to freeze. This breaks down the polymers and your glue will be rendered useless!
• Yellow PVAs have a shorter shelf life than white PVAs.
• Be wary of over priced PVAs that claim to be for a specific use. There is very little difference from one PVA to the other, and nothing that should increase the cost.
• Although PVA is not a gap filler, in some cases you can add sawdust to it to increase its gap filling ability.

Thank you "pierre52" sir, for your reply. Your reply helped immensely. I feel silly, I'm also an amateur wood worker and I have a garage full of my own bench top woodworking tools, which I am forever using to build things for myself, my family or others. I constantly use Elmer's Carpentry ( or known as woodglue ) glue all the time in my home workshop. But in reality, I never even thoroughly checked it out, or paid much attention to what type of glue it is ( i.e. PVA ). Once again, "Thank You" for setting me straight sir.