Model Railroading is NOT fun

[jpwisc]

I had the same problem when I moved my layout from MN to NV. I cut the track 3 years ago now, leaving some expansion gaps in for the rainy season and I haven’t had the problem again.

Learn to love the gap.

[ztrack]

Tis the season! I had this happen on my Z scale modules a few weeks ago. Track that has been set solid for 12 years gave up it up on a bridge. Both tracks actually let loose, one worse than the other. I was planning on restoring this section of the modules as it shows wear and tear after so many years. I just completed fixing the kink this past week. Gaps were added to get rid of the bow... But it was fun watching long unit trains go across the bridge and lean out over the water..

Rob

[bdennis]

I had a similar issue but with heat rather than cold. The heat, with no humidity, in Melbourne (Australia) over the last few weeks has found a few places where I had not glued the track down and had kinked.
I don't solder my Atlas Code 55 flex and have plastic joiners to enable block detection and roll my own turnouts.
As the track is not ballasted yet, the heat has expanded the rail in a few places and has kinked (or perhaps more accurately the timber has shrunk below the track).. Fortunately the fix was fairly easy and I'm now back in business.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Here's a better solution: handlay everything with 39' sections of rail, leaving plenty of slop. It's more authentic given the subject matter anyway. After all, you're not modeling the NEC...

[NorsemanJack]

Unitrack is still fun!

[peteski]

As I understand, the problem is with dimensional changes (shrinkage/expansion) of the wood base rather than the metal track.  If we built our layouts using a more stable material (plastic or metal) that would minimize or even eliminate the problem.

As it has been mentioned, during the cold season the air is dry. When that air is heated up to the temperatures we find comfortable in out homes, there is even less moisture in it. So the wood dries up and shrinks while the metal track does not.  And the end result is what happened to Chris.

[alhoop]

Use this:

http://www.utausa.com/metalconverter.html

I had to install gaps every 6' in my N scale Nickel/Silver track.

Ever check a plywood roof decking where the plywood was butted tight together - guaranteed to buckle.
That's why they sell those little H shaped aluminum spacers.

Al

[johnb]

And yet my oversized Atlas Code 80 that one modeler blasted me for, is holding up well in my Arizona garage. And that garage sees temperatures below 20 and highs over 115

[u18b]

The Plywood Plains NEVER has this pesky problem.   

[alhoop]

As I understand, the problem is with dimensional changes (shrinkage/expansion) of the wood base rather than the metal track. 

It is very much more the NS track than the wood, at least in my case.
See the calculator ref in post #21.
The COE for wood is about 1/3 that of Nickel/Silver.
Al

[ednadolski]

the problem is with dimensional changes (shrinkage/expansion) of the wood base rather than the metal track.  If we built our layouts using a more stable material (plastic or metal) that would minimize or even eliminate the problem.

It's impossible to fully eliminate the problem because there is no material that remains free of dimensional changes over time.  Different materials will expand/contract at different rates and they all react differently to environmental variations.   Metals will grow/shrink, cork dries out, wood and plywood will warp & twist (even the good cabinet-grade stuff), plastics can buckle, and so on.  Glues and solders are not strong enough to keep joints from failing in the face of sufficient change.

Bottom line:  gaps may be unsightly but are a practical necessity.  However with some careful planning and a bit of creativity it should be possible at least to minimize the visual impact.

And FWIW, the prototype has to deal with this sort of issue too:  https://www.iowadot.gov/sunkink.aspx

Ed

[ednadolski]

Use this:

http://www.utausa.com/metalconverter.html

LOL, that even has plutonium and ytterbium. 

Ed

[chuck geiger]

I had the Brazilian National Railway happen to me living in Allentown, PA years ago. Cut some gaps and
it slithered back to where it was suppose to, with a little help from pins and glue.

[nkalanaga]

BDennis:  Sounds like you have real sun kinks!  I haven't heard of those very often.  Most modelers don't have temperature changes that extreme, without humidity changes.

As the others have said, for most of us, the problem is humidity and wood, not temperature, because we tend to keep the temperature at least somewhat controlled in our train rooms.  One possible solution is to use foam board for the base, as it isn't affected by humidity changes.  But even there, it has to be supported by something, and if it's glued solidly to a sheet of plywood,  there will be problems.

The Feb 2018 Trains magazine has a short piece on sun kinks and pull-aparts on pages 28/29.  Pull-aparts can be a problem for a model railroad if the track is laid in very dry conditions, and then humidity increases.  I had a few in our old house, after laying the track in the winter, with an electric space heater as my rooms only heat.  The next summer the Kentucky humidity cause everything to swell, and the track didn't like being stretched.

If you already have your railroad built, I'd second the suggestion to get a humidifier, and preferably a combined humidifier/dehumidifier, and keep the humidity as close to constant as possible.

[Chris333]

Glad I'm not the only one. This kind of killed my mood today. I was off and planned to spend time working on the trains and I didn't do a thing.