Recurring problems due to changing weather?

RobertInOntario

Active Member
I was operating my layout this weekend and was surprised to find 2-3 problems recurring that I had fixed in the spring. FYI, I operated the layout successfully all summer until these problems suddenly re-appeared this weekend.

One was a derailing problem at one of my curved turnouts and the other was a loss of current problem. I managed to fix both of these after a few hours.

The loss of current was due to a rail joint that I had not soldered -- I had to improve its connection and also add some rubbing alcohol.

And the switch problem was probably due to the track changing positions now that the weather is changing. It gets very humid here during the summer but now that fall has arrived it's a fair bit dryer, which could have caused the track or my benchwork to shift slightly.

I also had a derailment problem on an other area of track that previously was fine -- again, I suspect this is due to the changing weather.

Has anyone else noticed things like this? I suspect it's fairly common.

Thanks,
Rob
 

FiatFan

Member
I have one turnout that acts up every spring and fall. I make a minor adjustment to it and it's fine until the next season change.

Tom
 

brakie

Active Member
Living in Ohio I am surprise I don't see weather related track problems at the 3 clubs I am a member because there isn't any heat 5 out of 7 days in the winter and the AC is off 5 out of 7 days during the summer months.The weather can fluxuate from 45 during the day to zero that night during the winter and can be in the 90s during the day and drop to the mid 50s at night.
BTW..One 1 club solders the rail joint the other 2 doesn't.
 

RobertInOntario

Active Member
Living in Ohio I am surprise I don't see weather related track problems at the 3 clubs I am a member because there isn't any heat 5 out of 7 days in the winter and the AC is off 5 out of 7 days during the summer months.The weather can fluxuate from 45 during the day to zero that night during the winter and can be in the 90s during the day and drop to the mid 50s at night.
BTW..One 1 club solders the rail joint the other 2 doesn't.

I think I'm going to solder a few more "troublesome" track joins to solve this. I'm not 100% sure if these track problems were weather related but just found it curious that they suddenly appeared at the end of September when I thought I'd fixed them. Cheers, Rob
 
I am in Michigan and oddities sometimes happen in spring and fall. It may have less to do with the weather and more to do with the furnace and air conditioner. Yes, I've experienced it, too.
 

Ralph

Remember...it's for fun!
I have similar issues with unsoldered rail joints. A section of track goes dead, I find the problem, solder, fixed. :) It does seem to happen with changes in humidity.
Ralph
 

60103

Pooh Bah
Rob: we used to run a modular/portable layout that used 6" pieces of flextrack to join the modules. In March we cut the joiners, then at each show during the year we had to trim them a bit shorter until back at the March show we had to cut a new set to the original length.
I usually only solder rail joints for mechanical reasons, but I tighten the joiners regularly and have piles of feeders.

Thanks, David. I'll try a combination of tightening the rail joiners and soldering to solve this. I could probably also add a few more feeders but, since this is to be a small portable layout, I still want to keep it fairly simple (i.e. not have too many wires on it which the kids could mess with!). Rob
 

RobertInOntario

Active Member
I just realized, since these problems are happening fairly late in the season, that maybe I could blame global warming for these problems? :mrgreen::mrgreen:

Rob
 
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