How deep is your roadbed? How long is your drill bit?

I had to drop a new feeder the other day, and came across a problem. The roadbed is a very deep 3 inches, and most drill bits that fit 16 gauge wire bottom out well before that. I'd either have to find a longer (and larger) drill bit, or find another method of making a hole.

The other method turned out to be a nail. With no hammer in sight, the nail had to be pushed through the homasote. The resulting hole was quite a distance away, leaving quite a bit of the feeder visible. The track now has power, but the wire is a little unsightly.

I should have gone for the larger drill bit. There's two things to learn from this story: Don't make your roadbed so deep a special drill bit is required to drop feeders and if you do make the roadbed that deep, you might as well go for the larger drill bit.