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Nickel silver rail has negligible expansion and contraction for model railroading purposes. According to MatWeb(1), an average composition of nickel silver (every company uses a slightly different alloy) has a coefficient of thermal expansion of 9.11 µin/in-°F. In more legible terms, the rails in one three-foot section of flextrack will expand or contract approximately 3.3E-3 (.0033) inches for 10 degree Fahrenheit increments. Interestingly, this is almost exactly the size of the gaps in the original problematic track. Thus, a good rule of thumb would be to put one Dremel cut off disc wide gap in every three feet of rail per (layout room temperature range/10). The more serious problem, as mentioned, is in the wooden benchwork. But it's not due to the thermal expansion of the wood, but rather the humidity and water content. On humid days, the wood will swell and throw things out of alignment. This can be solved by drying and sealing the wood before installation. Of course, the best preventative measure is to build a layout in a heated, air-conditioned, dehumidified room. (1) http://www.matweb.com/search/SpecificMaterial.asp?bassnum=MCUAEM08
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