I agree with post #1 above.

Here in Australia my layout in the garage experiences large temperature differences, but the effects on the layout are minimal. Keeping track clean is the biggest problem out there.

As @PLD says, I think expansion problems are exaggerated.

It is my unscientific observation that Farish diesel loco gears tend to split more if the layout room is hot. I used to have a lot of problems in NZ summers when my layout was in a shed in the garden.
A lot fewer since we moved house and the layout moved into a room in the house, double glazed and well insulated.

Not too bad here today - I was out on the water training yesterday and today ( Dragon Boat ) - only 30degrees and nicely overcast today ( yesterday was warmer around 32 with direct sunshine ). We have a big race next week in Osaka however the forecast there is still nice and low at 32C. It doesn't really get super hot hear until next month. Last year it got over 41C in several places.

Ooops I underestimated that January day...

Well done England!!  

31 is comfortable, 41 a pain, above that awful.

Quote from: ntpntpntp on July 11, 2026, 07:04:21 PM... believe me I've had fiddleyard track start to snake in my conservatory at 30 degrees (only in there for testing before a show), and in hot exhibition halls.

Found this shot of expansion problems on my son's narrow gauge layout a few years ago.  Granted he was still mastering track laying and soldering etc. but clearly he forgot to leave any gap at all at this board joint and this was the result @ 36 degrees in our conservatory    This joint had been perfectly fine until then.



The layout's subsequently been dismantled as tbh it was too ambitious, and as parents we had to point out we would need the room sometimes, there would be nowhere to store the layout, and it would be too large to ever take to a show in our car!

Quote from: ntpntpntp on July 11, 2026, 07:04:21 PM

Quote from: PLD on July 11, 2026, 06:24:18 PMWhat some do panic over in hot weather is the expansion of track, but even those concerns are over-blown - the Coefficient of Expansion for Nickel Silver is 16 × 10^-16 /1 degree C, so you need around a 64°C temperature change, for a 1 metre length of flexitrack to expand by 1mm!

That may be the theory based on the material properties, but believe me I've had fiddleyard track start to snake in my conservatory at 30 degrees (only in there for testing before a show), and in hot exhibition halls.  It's only loosely pinned compared to the fully glued and ballasted track on the scenic parts of the layout - that's never suffered.

Agreed, the track on our club test track in the Clubroom (in a metal portable office) got very wibbly wobbly in hot weather. Also it isn't just about temperature it is about extremes of temperature too I would say. I have had very few split gears in my Farish diesel fleet, but then the temperature in my modelling room (in the house) is comparatively stable and I reckon that is a factor.

I don't have a thermometer to hand in the 'train room', but in preparation for an open day today, I ran some trains successfully yesterday morning (Friday). The locos all come to rest in an isolated section ahead of each red signal, before I 'power off'.
On power up this morning (Saturday) a Class 47 immediately proceeded to run into the train in the next section. The cause? The rails had expanded so much that the isolated rail had come into contact with the 'live' bit! Guess I should have used Peco Insulated joiners!
ps 'running day very successful!
Kev E.

My stuff including my 25+ year old current layout have always been in my W. Texas garage with yearly swings from about 0 to 43 degrees.

Things are sluggish in the Winter and need more warming up, but things still work.

For what that's worth.

49 might be a different animal!