# Extreme heat affecting track alignment?



## Pete Chimney (Jan 12, 2008)

I am curious, has anyone with a layout in Arizona-Nevada-California had problems with track alignment over the past few days due to the extreme heat?


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Hasn't been a problem. But then it still hasn't reached 90 degrees at our place in Orange County.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Not that I've noticed, but I'm not running trains when I can melt. 

John


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Pete, just heat over the past few days... 

It's been this hot here for the past several weeks... 

no track - loose, or .. out of alignment here. ..even the limited amount laid!! in fact there are still gaps showing between sections!!!!! as planned...., .. and needed.....

Dirk - DMS Ry.


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## Russell Rutalj (Dec 7, 2010)

This is Russ from Sun Valley, Ca. Its been 102 for the last 3 days .So far no track movement. I have about 160 feet of Sunset Valley aluminum track , which has .125 space between rails. Some are more ,some less. I just walked the track this afternoon and I find no change. I have #5 1/4" Granite rock around the track and ties held down by Concrete Cement. Have been running in the evenings just before dark. No problems. I have AirWire Motion Decoder and Phoenix P8 Kit . I run a 4-4-0 and a Three Truck Shay by Bachmann. The track is elevated and has been in use since June of 2011. No problems so far. I just clean the track with Scotch Brite pad every once in a while. Look on Russell Rutalj Elevated Railroad Blog For construction. Hope this helps. Happy rails to you . Russ


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## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

I have had two spots that kinked a little. I too use Sunset Valley aluminum and rely on some gapping in the rail sections for expansion. Usually if I have a problem its because some ballast has got into the joiner at a gap and the rail couldn't slide. Just sliding the joiner back to clean it out usually clears it up. Been in the upper 80's lower 90's here in Western Washington for a couple days. Seems more normal this morning.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

This is not the first time my rails have gotten hot. 
Several years ago when I had the tri-oval, one corner was on a trestle. I noticed lateral movement on the corner and the 'straight' track had a slight arc as ballast restricted free and easy movement. A 90 degree 10'D curve moved 1/2" 

I use Aristo's SS and I make sure the rails are firmly butted together and I use the joiner screws as tight as I can get them to hold the rails together. I think of the rail as I beams and stronger than 1:1 porportions. 

I tend to make my straight aways wiggle with the terrain, my 2nd class RR just needs to bring Unobtainium from the hills and take empties back up. I thought Leverite was going to buy a new loco until the assay offfice said it was better to Leave 'er rite there. 

I will be surprised when I get my first kink, I don't think of them anymore. 

John


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## jfrank (Jan 2, 2008)

It was 106 here in Houston Saturday. I use Llagas Creek aluminum and some nickel silver. There have been no alignment problems. I ran steam this morning with no derailments and no problems.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Two stories I have told here before:

When I started my RR, I bought a big box full of used plastic track (the kind that comes with the toy Christmas trains for indoor use). There was over 40 ft. of usable straight track so I got four 10-ft 1x6 boards to put on the ground and had a 40-ft. short line. (My RR's motto then was "The Straight Line Short Line".) Being new to this and noting that the plastic was very brittle (old and sun-bleached/UV damaged) I was fearful that a wind might blow the track off the boards and break the molded connecters on each end, so I put 1 nail through a hole in 1 tie at each end of the 40-ft of track to hold the track down. I paid no attention to the temperature or how much the track was compressed together, so I cannot calculate how much possible thermal expansion space was available.

I came home from work one evening and noted that the track was now a "bell-curve" shaped arch with the center of its length nearly 3 ft. above the boards! I carefully approached the track, fearful that it might blow over and break some pieces. Then like an idiot, I barely touched the center of the arch and it DID fall over, breaking several of the molded-in joiners of the track pieces.




I then built totally elevated structure for my RR and bought some Llagas Creek code 215 standard gauge Nickel-Silver track. Now being aware of thermal expansion, I used a dime as a spacer to separate the rail ends when I joined the sections of rail. I used the simple (cheap) rolled spring-metal clip track joiners that grip the foot of the rail.

I used to run every Sunday afternoon and the 1st thing I did each time was put a boxcar on the track and give it a push down the line and follow along behind, checking for discontinuities in the track, and flipping leaves and twigs and other things off the track. Never found a problem with the track!

One Sunday, I was not feeling well, but wanted to run my Aster Mike anyway, and since I had never found a problem with the track, I decided to forego the track check. I did see some twigs at one place and flipped them off, but did not run the boxcar around the track.

BAD IDEA!

I put my Mike on the track and got steam up, coupled to a short train, put the R/C in forward and opened the R/C throttle. One half way around the east-end loop-back, the $4000 Live Steam Aster Light Mikado hit a separation in the outside rail and fell 4-ft to the ground. Broke off the headlight, and one handrail stantion (bending the handrail badly), bent the cowcatcher down, and the ladder on the tender as well as embedding mud and grass in the wheels and valve gear.

Studying the track after that I found that all the gaps in the rails had closed up tight in the heat of the previous week, but when things had cooled down over the weekend, instead of each gap slipping back to the original Dime thickness distance, the one clip with the weakest grip took up the entire set of dime sized gaps to open to about 1/2 inch and thus my Mike failed at being an airplane.

I then used some fishing line wrapped around the end ties of each section of track to hold them tightly together. Thermal expansion would then have to move the track, which was accommodated because it was just loosely held down with more fishing line that passed under one rail, over a tie or two, and then under the other rail and the ends tied together under the elevated structure. It was pretty much free to move a small amount in any direction "as a whole" and I found that the 17-ft. diameter loopbacks would have the ties slightly overhanging the inner edge of the elevated structure on the coldest days of winter (sub zero), and the track would expand on the hottest days of summer (upper 90's) such that the other end of the ties would be slightly overhanging the outer edge of the elevated structure. 

I still had trouble with the rail breaking the fishing line and separating because ties would catch on uneven joints in the wood structure, so I removed the fishing line that tied the track down and floated the whole track in ballast (chicken grit). Never had a problem after that and the wind never blew it off the elevated structure (though I lost a lot of ballast in the wind.. and the sparrows and wrens love to eat it.).


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

I have a 60 some feet of straight away. Maybe closer to 70 


I have no expansion track sections in it.

All the screws have been removed from the ties to the rail 

The joiners are Aristo standard joiners with screws on one end only. 

That allows the other side to " Float" 

Concrete Road Bed.

The track is firmly but no rigidly attached to the road bed. I use Plastic anchors and Re Bar wire.

I have not noticed any significant miss alignment of the track. 

Temps have been up in the 115 degrees area. 

Tack is in direct sunlight.

The only real problem I have is the ties are dissolving/ rotting from the sunlight.

I have not been following Gregs advice of spraying them with armorall 

JJ


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## Jim85711 (Feb 12, 2013)

Hi Pete we have it good out here in the desert, when most of the country with garden railroads have to put their stuff away for 7-8 months we get to run ours for those 7-8 months without the heat, Yes last few weeks in Tucson Arizona my track is expanding and retracting, or run trains during early morning hours like 6 5 7 8 ort evening 8 or 9


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## FlagstaffLGB (Jul 15, 2012)

I don't have a large layout. It is elevated and a bent dog bone theme and sits out in the summer heat (Sun City Arizona). Been a little cooler and humid this August, so I haven't seen any changes. I do keep the track covered (using cardboard cut outs) during the day. Seems to keep it cooler.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Why do you cover it? 

Are you concerned about kinking? Sun rot? 

just curious. 

Greg


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