![\"964d0526f5c3e389ebfd3431b0b4ca78_f181\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.graphicdisplay.3acompositesusa.com\/2015\/05\/964d0526f5c3e389ebfd3431b0b4ca78_f181.jpg\")
<\/a>Today, as a semi-retired sign-maker in Waterbury Center, Vt., Myers has turned his professional appreciation of Gatorfoam into a product that supports his hobbyist passion for model railroading. He\u2019s modeled The Mid-Atlantic & New England (the MANE) railway line running from Maryland to New England as well as the Mill Creek Coke & Coal Tipple No. 2 and other craftsman model kits. These extensive models occupy a second-story 18-foot by 29-foot room built within the exterior walls of the 1820s barn located on Myers\u2019 property.<\/p>\n\u201cAs I built my railroads, I always reached for Gatorfoam as my modeling substrate,\u201d said Myers, who is a member of the National Model Railroad Association. \u201cI immediately started using it for bases and expanded from there to sub-roadbed, back drops and module surfaces. I knew from using it in the sign business that it held up extremely well, machined great, and took paint and stains without warping.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Myers \u2013 who describes Gatorfoam as \u201cbulletproof yet lightweight\u201d \u2013 long has been a proponent of the rigid substrate in model railroading, he\u2019s had to educate his fellow railroaders about its benefits over much heavier plywood or lighter-duty foam boards.<\/p>\n
Myers\u2019 original product offering at model railroad shows consisted of trees that he had modeled and then displayed mounted on Gatorfoam.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t selling any trees; instead, I was re-selling Gatorfoam at the shows,\u201d said Myers.<\/p>\n
Myers buys large Gatorfoam sheets in the 3\/16-inch and \u00bd-inch thicknesses from 3A Composites\u2019 distributor Harbor Sales (www.harborsales.net<\/a>) in Sudlersville, Md., and cuts them down to fit the most popular railroad modeling projects.<\/p>\n Myers offers custom-cut Gatorfoam pieces for modeling in both the 3\/16-inch and 1\/2-inch thicknesses in sizes ranging from 8-by-12 inches to 32-by-48 inches in primarily the Bright White color and to a lesser extent in the Natural and Black colors. He also sells Gatorfoam backdrop kits that include a \u00bd-inch thick Gatorfoam base and a 3\/16-inch thick back section in three sizes as well as the screws needed for assembly. Models or scenery can be mounted on the backdrops.<\/p>\n \u201cWith a Gatorfoam backdrop, you know it\u2019s not going to twist and that moisture won\u2019t affect it,\u201d said Myers.<\/p>\n In addition to selling Gatorfoam pieces for modeling, Myers freely distributes printed technique sheets for creating everything from<\/p>\n model bases to driveways, streets and roads, and concrete from Gatorfoam. He also provides tip sheets for safely cutting large Gatorfoam sheets and irregular shapes from the rigid substrate as well as for creating Gatorfoam module tops.<\/p>\n<\/a>Today, he intentionally re-sells Gatorfoam to other modelers at railroad shows and through his web site at www.gatorfoam.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n