Tony P says:

Hi Marty, You can do almost anything you want to the cork road bed. I dont know how flexable it will be once it is painted. I have seen that crackle paint in home depot and I think it is
rust o leium? or some other type of spray, I used it on steel patio furniture. I guess it is the final look that you want. Cork road bed is very flexible but you can break it so test it out, you did not say what scale you are using but you have to be careful not to make too sharpe radius, there are minimums, and you will always need little pieces here and there. I have never wet it on purpose. Once you decide how your layout will be you can glue your cork into place and pin it with push pins or the like, to hold it in place until the glue dries. install your track and ballast track as you see fit. No offense but it sounds like you are new to model RR and if this is so you might want to invest in Roberts book or some other beginners manuel because this will all be explained in detail and will save you a lot of time and trouble and frustration. Try to do it right the first time, but I think most of us have been thru the trial and error method and it can still be a lot of fun. Tony P