Something weird happened

[Graham Walters]

What with getting the shop up and running, I've not spent that much time on my layout.

Well Thursday last I managed to get into the shed for a couple of hours, only to discover my track resembled the mine car ride in an Indiana Jones movie, to say it was distorted would bemaking light of what had happened, the track was so distorted it was ( IMO) beyond repair, so much so that joins were now 5 or 6mm gaps.

At first I didn't know what to attribute this to, the changes in temperature in the shed had never affected the track like that previously, no animal could get in the shed, as it is locked when I am nowhere near it.

Then I just happened to be talking to my neighbour on the one side, about it, he seemed a little quieter than normal, and gave me that "well I don't really care sort of reponse",  then yesterday I was chatting to the neighbour on the other side, we get on a lot better, and he is know to ecscape into the shed with me for the odd hour or two, he remarked that the first neighbour had had some people in cutting back the trees alongside the fence, and that during this proccess a saw got dropped between the fence and my shed, the gap is about three inches between the fence and side of the shed, no he reckons the gang of them shifted the shed in order to retrieve the saw.

The baseboards are the modular type, and for extra stability I did fix them to the side of the shed, would sliding a shed cause that must distortion it, so that it literally twists the rails on a 6mm ply board, screwed down, and screwed to the side of the shed?

Or is there another more logical explanation,?

[Newportnobby]

Recently someone else based in Hinckley suffered from the opposite i.e. buckling due to expansion so I am aware folks do get issues but I am certain no climactic conditions caused the size of your joint variations. Usually it is more a case of the baseboards expanding/contracting rather than the rails anyway. Did the blokes cutting the trees back have any equipment that could have moved your shed and access to use it? Is it light enough to be moved without such equipment.
Could this be a job for Muldur & Scully?

[Cape Town Trev]

When I lived in England, Daventry in fact, I had an incident of Peco track becoming wiggly.
I remember offering to show someone my layout in my shed. Upon opening the shed door I immediately saw that the track had become wiggly.
I had been using flex track and replaced it with set track.  I believed that the problem had been caused by the heat. My shed was insulated.

Like Newort Nobby I am no climate expert.

In South Africa when I did use Peco flex track I did not have this problem but that layout was in a house room.
I am now a Kato Unitrack man.

[Bealman]

The original story rings alarm bells with me. If they have indeed moved the shed without prior permission, then I think there is a legal case to answer.

I know if that happened to me I'd be mad as hell and seeking scalps.

[Steve Brassett]

Without knowing the topology, could cutting back the trees have allowed more sunlight to fall on the shed, raising the temperatures?  Maybe even only at some point during the day?

[port perran]

If the distortion is as bad as you describe then I think that moving the shed (even if only a small amount) could be the cause of the problem. 
Can you see and visual signs outside of the shed being moved slightly (eg slide marks on the ground or grooves in the wood where the shed could have been levered up a bit to move it )?
People don't think these days they often just act and don't worry or consider the consequences.
We were blocked in on Friday by a guy who left his car across our drive in front of our campervan  which had a protective cover on it.
When he eventually returned (some hours later) - no apology just an "Oh, I didn't see the van !".

[Graham Walters]

the shed is resting on wooden bearers (42 sq Posts), so in theory one or two strong blokes could slide it along the bearers without much problem from a corner, even so, it would be a lot easier if they used a decent lever, then one bloke could do it

[PLD]

If it has been moved, unless they were extremely careful and it was a very well planned and executed move, to ensure the shed was replaced in precisely the original position, there must be visual evidence of it being moved either on the ground or the shed itself.

Without any physical evidence of the shed having been moved e.g. marks on the ground, utility supplies being disturbed, the whole thing now being 3 inches to the left, you are reliant on one neighbours word against the other...

[Mustermark]

Sounds like the shed being moved is the most likely explanation for your significant track displacement. The British climate is not likely to cause the extent of damage you describe. I imagine the flexing of the shed floor being clumsily lifted would have had a knock on to the baseboards.  Sorry to hear of your problem... I'd be absolutely incandescent with rage if it had happened to me! Being in the US, i'd probably be buying a shotgun right now!

Your best bet is probably to be very British... Just tut and get on with fixing the track. I agree with Bealman, but it's very hard to prove. I'd be having words with the neighbour though. I'd start out with a polite enquiry and end with several feet of flexitrack needing surgical removal! Can you move the shed to the side by the nice neighbour? I feel for you though. I would be so peed off.