Loft or shed installations

[Robc058]

One issue of loft or shed installations is temperature extremes.

Of course tt120 arrived in the winter/spring.

My installation is in the loft. Part of it is already glued down but most is not as I was waiting for some cork and track.

I am assuming now is the best time to glue the layout, mid way between extremes of heat and cold?

I think I have been wise not to glue everything down in winter as expansion could cause some track distortion if it tries to expand?

Can anyone share hints?

[Rallymatt]

Over the years there has been a lot of scaremongering over this, yes there are some sensible considerations but people have been installing model railways in sheds and lofts for decades, rarely with any issues. If your loft or shed is well insulated and watertight, it’s probably as good as any room in the house. I’d love to see some evidence to support ‘issues’ but it never appears 😁

[Singer33]

I had a loft layout which had temperature extremes. In my experience it didn't impact the layout itself, the issue for me was comfort levels for operating the layout.

Not much enjoyment to be had when you can see your breath or lose a litre of water through sweat.

I never had a problem with expansion or anything like that. One advantage of glueing in the summer is that it might dry quicker, but thats about it.

[ntpntpntp]

I'd never consider running a layout in a "raw" loft, shed, or garage. For me the environment needs to be lined out, insulated and temperature/humidity stabilised both for my comfort and for longevity of the layout and stock.

That said, my exhibition layouts live crated up in my "raw" garage for months on end - in fact I recently had my main layout out for a show after almost 6 years stored away and it was fine after a little track cleaning and fixing a couple of failed soldered track joints. It doesn't get really hot in the garage though.