the "cost appraisal" above seems good in itself....
ergo, its seems on the surface a pretty good deal to handlay your track.
but here's the other "half" of the equation (as surfsideflip surmised):
~18' section...
rail= $20.00
ties= $20.00
so, cost of handlaying track is around $40 per 18 feet of track...
the cost of ME c40 or c55 flex track is around $24 for 18 feet of track.
the cost of atlas c55 flex is around $16 for 18 feet of track.
so, $40 vs. $16 ....
no savings
...
in fact not only are you paying alot more...
you'll also have the headaches of actually building the track and gauging the rails...
going back to the TO's:
surfsideflip...
you came up with a cost of $4.15 per TO for the raw materials (i came up with about the same)
now commercially available TO's...
atlas c55 ~$9-10
potential cost savings...around $5-6 per TO.
(i'm sorry tim, but i have to say this)
now if you add just a standard/basic jig and a point/frog jig...
you need to handlay at least 30 TO's to break even
.
(remember the jig will only give you one size TO....
if you need multiple sizes, you'll have to calculate in more jigs...)
and one more thing, take into account what rob (de rebel) said about tools.
conclusion:
DO NOT HANDLAY if you want to save money.
(for an average layout) its much cheaper, easier, and will give you less headaches to use commercially available track.(mass production does have its benefits
)
DO NOT HANDLAY if you want something up and running quickly (even if it is just a part of the layout, so you have something to run trains, while you work on the rest of the track/scenery/structures/etc.)
HANDLAY ONLY if you have lots of special intricate track work that is not commercially available, and you feel your skills and patience is up to the mark, and you want the satisfaction/pride of saying you did it yourself
HANDLAY ONLY if you want the BEST looking track available
ADDED: if you're gonna try handlaying track (i think everyone should at some time), then the fast tracks jigs are the best way to go
unless you really want to learn the hard way...trial and error
