managed to lay another 55 feet of track and prepare ties for an additional 40 feet. I know a lot of people prefer to build track panels on a table, pre-bend the rail for curved track panels, and then move them into place to be joined—but I like doing everything right on the roadbed. It’s just more natural for me. If I had gotten an earlier start today and hadn’t run low on rail joiners, I could’ve easily laid between 100 and 150 feet using the Accu-Rail Tie System. (No, I’m not being paid to say that—I just genuinely love this system.)

My method starts with pre-attaching two screws on the outer rail of each tie. Later, I decided to add one screw on the inside rail as well. I screw down all the ties on the outer side first, which gives the rail the freedom to naturally follow the curves of the roadbed. Because of that, I have no need to pre-bend the rail. Once I’ve laid a good stretch, I start screwing down the inner rail to lock everything in.

At this pace, I’m on track (no pun intended) to finish the extension by mid-July. I’d be done sooner, but I only get one day a week to work on the railroad—except for this past week when I made a lot of progress during a well-timed vacation.

Check out a few pictures below!