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Hi:

 

I am in O-Scale 2-rail and am building an O-Scale layout in my garage addition.  It is 22 x 22 feet.  About 1/2 will be dedicated to the layout while the remaining 1/2 will be a model and radio shop.

 

PROBLEM:

 

I live in the North Country where winter temperatures can easily fall to -20 degrees F.  The shop will not be heated during the entire winter, only when I am actively building and working.  So the room will widely fluctuate all winter from below freezing to room temperature.

 

I am using 148 ME flextrack and scratch built turnouts.  I plan to use rail joiners, but not solder the rail.  I will most likely just solder jumpers for improved continuity.  I am planning to use either plywood or OSB with Homasote under the ties on top of a grid of 4 x 4's for support.

 

QUESTION: 

 

What would you suggest I gap the rails for expansion and contraction under these conditions?

 

Thanks...   Tom

Original Post

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Tom,

If I may make a suggestion-heat the garage.  Insulate if it's not.  You'll enjoy your layout much more. Money well spent.

 

I've had layouts in unheated/non-insulated attics and it's no fun.  Cold in the winter and miserably hot in the summer.  One summer as a kid I couldn't even work in the attic-it was over 120 degs.

 

FWIW, my well insulated shop is 25X35 and in the winter it stays well above freezing-typically 40 degs or better even when it was -10 outside.  Never gets below freezing, and that's without the heater turned on at all!

 

I think your effort to have heat will pay off in big rewards and make your experience much more enjoyable.  It just makes everything so much easier when you're comfortable-even simple tasks.

Last edited by 86TA355SR

Hi 86T______:

 

The garage is unheated.  The train/workshop is heated via pellet stove.  I won't be heating it the entire winter, only when I use it.  The workshop is insulated and built off the ground on piers so the floor will be warm after 15 minutes running the pellet stove.

 

 

At -20 t0 -30 degrees, there is no amount of insulation that will keep the room warm without a stove.  My garage is not attached to my home.  With the stove running on idle, I can keep it a working comfortable 63 degrees.

 

So, if I'm gone, the stove will be off.  Maybe it will be an hour or 3 days until I use it again.  In the meantime, I have exposed my layout to some significant swings between sub freezing and 63 degrees.  I live in upstate NY.  That's not just outside the city.  I'm up in the Adirondak mountain area.  Our snow has been gone for only about 1 week.

 

Thanks...   Tom

Change in length is directly proportional to change in temperature.

 

Δ length = initial length X α X Δ temperature.

 

For steel, the coefficient of thermal expansion (alpha) is .0000067 in/in (F).

 

Let’s say you have 100 feet (1200 inches) of track in a loop and your temperature will range from -20 degrees F to 100 degrees F.  If you installed it when it was -20 degrees it would grow to 1200.9648 inches

 

Δ length = 1200 inches X .0000067 in/in (F) X 120 degrees F = .9648 inches

 

So if that loop is made with Gargraves flex track sections which are 37 inches long, you would use about 32 sections and would need 1/32 inch gap between each section IF you install it when its -20 degrees If you install when the temperature is tolerable, it would shrink when it gets cold and you wouldn’t need a gap when you install it.

 

Bottom line - I wouldn’t worry about change in track length due to temperature changes.

 

Bob

Last edited by Lehigh74

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