track repair info....

[cwaldman]

I understand that track doesn't actually shrink or contract. Rather it is the surface upon which track is placed. That being said, i do have an area of the layout upon which track is directly on plywood. Yard.

The layout is in the basement, Not a controlled environment. Being winter now, I have noticed that an area of flextrack is starting to bow. The area has not been ballasted yet. Other area that have been have not had this happen.

My question is this. Is it better to repair it now in the cold of winter, or wait until warmer weather. I really don't know which is best. it still run fine and i took care laying the track. If i fix it now, i may suffer gaps in the warmer weather. If I wait, then what??? The track is correct again.

BTW what about this not showing up in ballasted areas?? Why is this?

thanks for solid sound and hopefully proven advice.

Cletus

[Anonymous]

It's probably not showing up in the ballasted areas because the glue holding the ballast down is also holding the track down. Have you glued the track itself to the plywood? Or did you just nail it down?

[cwaldman]

most of the track is nailed. The ballasted area's have been glued in place. But that track was nailed first.

The area not ballasted is only partially nailed in place.

Which probably has lead to the allowance of movement as you suggested. I still need to know about when I should fix it.

Now by cutting to fit again? Or wait until it goes back to normal when warmer and then just ballast it.

Cletus

[cacole]

If it's bowed in the Wintertime, the wood is shrinking, probably from drying out. Did you paint or seal the wood before laying track? If not, you need to seal the wood on both sides to prevent expansion and contraction with changes in humidity, as a first step. Then go back and remove the track nails so it can realign.

Something else you might consider as an alternative is to glue the track down with latex caulking instead of nailing it. Remove the track, paint the wood, spread a very thin layer of latex caulking with a putty knife, put the track back down, and weight it with bricks or something for at least 24 hours.

[john lea]

cwaldman.. I also have my layout in a non controlled invirement and the climate is very cold in the winter, down to about the 20's and the summer is the the 90's I didn't paint my plywood although it's a very good idea, I just glued down the cork, even in the yards, because the ballest work, I think, will look more realistic, just my opion. then I had a problem with my hand layed switches, contraction and expansion, until I glued them in place, no more problems. Then when you ballest it will add another layer of glue, which will help hold things in place. When I was on the road, we had the same problems with rails, expandsion and contraction, They would contract in the winter and cause a gap or even break the rail, could and sometimes did cause problems, sometimes a derailment. In the summer when the heat would rise to above 100 degrees the rail would expand and couse bows thus spreading the rail making the track guage to wide and couse a derailment. Hope this helps a little. John

[cwaldman]

Thanks for the input, but My real question is whether to fix now in the cold or wait until the warmer weather when it returns to normal then repair?

My concern is that fixing it now may cause the track to be too short in the warmer weather. Of course if I fix it now and then ballast it, it may be OK in the warmer weather.

It is not important to ballast now as i am in no rush for this area. It is about 10 foot of mainline and 10 foot of an arrival track adjacent to the yard.

i just need to know when I should correct it.

thanks again

Cletus

[camarokid]

If you do most or all of your running in the winter time(like I do), fix it now so if and when you want to run in the summer all those small gaps you have now won't be quarter inch or more. Ain't it great!!
Archie

[cwaldman]

camarokid....... i understand what you are saying I think. I run an equal amount the whole year. Actually there are no gaps now, just bowed out trackage.

your last comment about the gaps getting bigger, is my concern if I fix it now. If I shorten the track now to correct the bowing, will it make the gaps larger in the summer if the wood expands again?

As i said, if I fix it now, I would go a head and ballast and glue, hopefully avoiding the gaps in the summer, but would that work or not. I think it would since my ballasted track with glue shows no signs of distortion.

Cletus

[cacole]

Before we built our layout we conducted an experiment to see exactly how much nickel-silver rail expands and contracts with changes in termperature. We put two pieces of Atlas flex track outdoors in full sunlight on a July afternoon when the temperature was over 100 degrees, and left it for two hours. The rail became so hot that the plastic crossties began to melt. The rail temperature was 125 degrees. The track length was measured, and it was then placed into a chest-type freezer overnight. The track was measured at zero degrees temperature. Between zero and 125 degrees, both pieces of flex track expanded less than 1/64th of an inch. Based on this experiment, we deduced that a 40 foot long straight section of track should expand or contract only 11 or 12/64th of an inch, even in a building that has no air conditioning or heating.

Track expansion is not the problem -- it is your wood expanding and contracting with changes in humidity. It would be best to seal the wood now, while is it dry and has contracted, and then re-lay your track. If the wood does swell up from moisture, the gaps that open up in your rail should not be large enough to worry about.