Rybcon
Member
Anyone else old enough? I remember helping my Dad putting down track. The road bed was wood with the ties "carved" in. You then took the rail and laid it on the ties and anchored it with very small railroad spikes using a tap hammer and a punch. To lay the other rail you had a rail gauge to make sure the width was correct for the gauge you were working in. The ends of the rails had to be cut and filed square and clean so it could be soldered with the next rail.