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Hi Jack, Going back about 20 yrs to physics class - let me see if I can get this right. Coeff. of Linear Expansion is a number which describes the length to which material expands as its heated. i.e. If you have a 6' long piece of flex track, it will be 6' + some factor of expansion at 100 degrees F in the summer, but will be 6' - some factor of contraction in the winter at 30 degrees F. Why is that important? As you do all of your nice track work on a 65 degree day, that trackwork is going to grow / get longer on hotter days and is going to shrink on cooler days. On the hotter days, the ends of each piece of track will jam into each other, possibly causing buckling. On cool days, the ends will shrink apart causing larger gaps. Part of the solution is leaving proper sized gaps at the end of each section when you build your layout / garden ry. If you're building on a hot day, you'll need less of a gap because the track is already expanded. Cool day laying track - need more gap. Track with a higher coefficient of expansion should have larger gaps and vice versa. Your hobby shop or the website of the mfgr should be able to suggest an appropriate gap. Now how did that coeff of linear expansion calc go??? Coeff x cross sectional area x change in degrees C?
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