Who cuts gaps in the rail on curved portions of their RR?

Do you have pictures of what you do?  I haven't started my layout yet, but am about to, so i am curious. 

Andy,

I have not taken the time to learn how to post photos.  Sorry.

Ed

I didn't cut any gaps, two years later no issues with expansion.

No gaps. No problems.

That's OK Ed... The only layout I have ever started (never finished it) was HO years ago and I did not have any gaps.  I was just curious on the other.

The basement has one season and no sun so I don't add a gap.

I remember my friend's O Scale 2 rail layout used a splined homosote roadbed.  He had trouble on a duck under straight section that would expand and contract.  He had a 1 inch gap that he would slip in a filler rail of various lengths depending on the seasonal changes. Otherwise the remainder of the layout had no gaps and no issues that i remember.

@Ed Kelly posted:

On straight portions, I leave a gap in the rail at the rail joiners.

On curve portions, I usually cut staggered gaps in the rails about every 1 1/2 or 2 sections of flex track.  I forgot every once in a while in the beginning but have done it since then.  Where I cut gaps I could see the gap changing in length from season to season.  Where I didn't cut gaps, I have had no trouble since I put Elmers Carpenters Glue between the ties on all curved portions.  The glue locks in the geometry of the ties and nothing can move.  

What do you guys/gals do?

Thanks,

Ed

The e only place we leave gaps is in out door trains. The LGB all brass track can and does move around. They actual make a expansion joint section. Indoor layout has one season only

I’ve only ever cut gaps at my lift up section.  I use Gargraves track in my attic layout that has significant temperature changes.  There are gaps in the track at some joints where I was a little off when cutting the rails, but I never intentionally cut a gap for expansion / contraction purposes.  Never had a problem over 40 years.  The coefficient of thermal expansion is low for the track materials we use.  You would have to have a VERY long straight to have any measurable expansion.

My layout has been together for over 30 years. All track is Gargraves with mostly Gargraves switches and a few Ross switches. My sub base is plywood with homasote as the track base. I have never had an expansion issue.  Remember the Gargraves track usually has a little space between the rails where you are joining them together on the pins.I have at times had a cold basement and still no issues.

I have O tubular track and there no gaps in the track,  just the opposite - tight as possible, my guess is steel expands and contracts less than wood and my temperature and humidity are pretty consistent

@BillYo414 posted:

The basement has one season and no sun so I don't add a gap.

Ah, the difference between the USA & the UK.

There was a discussion on a UK Forum about American advice to solder all rail joints. Wouldn't work over here as we don't have either basements or air conditioning (in private houses). Our layouts have to cope with a fair bit of temperature variation, so we don't solder rail joints and do leave small gaps for expansion.

When hand-spiking the track on my layout I did appreciate the advantage of the American use of staggered rail joints, especially on curves as it's easier to maintain a smooth radius without the risk of 'dog legs' in the curve where the two joints are at the same spot.

Mindyou, if my rails did distort in the heat, no one would notice, as they look like this anyway....

At our club layout, we provide gaps in the rail(s) where each DCC district changes. To isolate each from the other. Also due to temperature and humidity variations in the layout room. Additional gaps are provided. At times when humidity is high (summer) some gaps will close. We endeavor to put bits of plastic in the gaps to prevent  them from closing and shorting.

Thanks to all who responded to my question.

Chris, I get the opposite reaction to season changes.  In summer, my gaps expand and, in winter, the gaps close.  I guess all basements are different.  

Bill Park, thanks for the great pictures.

Thanks again to all who responded.

Ed

@PRR Man posted:

At our club layout, we provide gaps in the rail(s) where each DCC district changes. To isolate each from the other. Also due to temperature and humidity variations in the layout room. Additional gaps are provided. At times when humidity is high (summer) some gaps will close. We endeavor to put bits of plastic in the gaps to prevent  them from closing and shorting.

A vendor who goes by the name "Irish Tracklayer" sells small pieces of plastic for the above issues.  As best I recall his name is John O'Houlihan.

ECI

@Ed Kelly posted:

Thanks to all who responded to my question.

Chris, I get the opposite reaction to season changes.  In summer, my gaps expand and, in winter, the gaps close.  I guess all basements are different.  

Bill Park, thanks for the great pictures.

Thanks again to all who responded.

Ed

Hmm that is a weird one. Where you have your trains, is it climate conditioned? If so, then in summer if AC is going it may be cold enough to allow the track to contract (and gaps widen) and in winter, with heat, it is warm enough to allow the rail to expand (and gaps contract).

I didn't put any gaps in my rail and having gone through seasons with the (yet) unfinished track laying, I haven't seen anything. I do have AC in the summer in there, in the winter the space is unheated but only gets down to the lower 60's, so nothing dramatic.

We had an experience at an HO club in Houston, TX area where we would see occurences of the rail buckling ("sun kinks") in the winter months and existing gaps would open up in the summer (opposite of what happens up north).  The issue was not with the rails themselves growing and shrinking due to thermal expansion since the layout room temperature stayed relatively constant all year as the building was climate controlled.  However, the reason for the changes in the layout were due to the moisture in the air actually impacting the wood benchwork growing and shrinking.  Believe it or not, the relative humidity in the club building was actually lower in the hot humid Houston summer because the air conditioner ran so much and doors were kept closed so the A/C would condense the moisture out of the air and the humidity in the building was actually quite low.  While the mild Houston winter weather months meant that the A/C was mostly off and doors to the building were frequently opened to let in fresh air and we only needed to run the furnace a just a few days during winter.  Being that Houston is still quite humid in the winter due to its proximity to the Gulf Coast, the relative humidity in the room was actually quite high in the winter and the wood benchwork would expand and cause the rails to buckle "sun kink" in places.  Leaving small 0.030" gaps every 3 straight sections of flex track pretty much alleviated this issue from reoccuring.  The rail joints on the curves were soldered to keep smooth-flowing joints.

Usually the opposite happens up north since the furnace runs a lot in the cold winter months and keeps the humidity in the house very low, which causes the wood benchwork to shrink and gaps would open up.  However, in the summer, the humidity goes up and the wood grows when the warmer weather months have the windows open and the furnace is off and then "sun kinks" would form.

People frequently associate these layout "sun kinks" to temperature, but in actuallity it has to do with moisture content in the layout room.  Yes, metal rails can grow with temperature but moisture changes effecting the wood benchwork between the seasonal changes is the bigger culprit causing track issues more than for temperature swings impacting rail growth.  Running a dehumidifier in the basement up north during the summer can definitely help control sun kinks in the layout room, which is commonly located in the basement which can get pretty humid being that it is below ground level.

Scott