Finally, both half's attached and the track moved back to the base.
Here is a close up of the seam between the two halves. You can see the staples. After the season is over (or if I get bored) I'll add some fingernail polish of the same shade to the staples to hide them better. I will also add the switch wiring under the board (you can see it on-top in the upper pictures). I have not screwed down the track yet as I have a short in one of the switches. It is receiving power on the auto-derail switch leg and not allowing the auto-derail to function on the straight leg. Once I solve that, I'll screw down the track and add the village (more picture to come).