Under track components three types were mentioned: sectional,
flex and hand laid. Sectional track is the simplest consisting of
preformed straight, circular, crossing and switch (sometimes called a
"turnout") with ties attached. Sectional track is simply
connected and then tacked or glued to the roadbed.
Flex track also has ties attached, typically comes in three foot
lengths and may be bent to form curves. Note that on a curve the
outside rail will be longer than the other and this must be taken into
consideration when joining sections of flex track. Like sectional
track, flex track is glued or tacked to the roadbed.
Many serious model railroaders prefer to hand lay track and even build
switches from bulk rail. Hand laid individual ties many also be
used. Further discussion of this topic is beyond the scope of
this discussion.
