I am not a track expert, but I was just in a hobby shop for another reason, and noted the price of a 3 foot section of track. I see why you want to hand lay.
Here is what I do - I cut some white pine strips on my table saw, slice them in to tie- size pieces with a hand saw in a wooden miter box, and glue them to the sub- roadbed with Weldwood or equivalent water base wood glue (like Elmers, only kind of yellowish).
Rather than glue each tie, I put the glue on a palette and swipe each tie in the glue, prior to placing it on the road bed. Weight them down if you can with a plank and some chunks of heaviness.
Wait a day or so, then sand the tops of the ties smooth and level. It is tough to get them level, but that is the critical part.
Spike your rails using multiple track gauges - I make mine with an end mill and small pieces of brass. You need gauges that sort of hold the rails without any assistance, since you will be using both hands to drive spikes.
I only put spikes in every sixth tie, since I have no desire to go fruitbasket whilst spiking, but the more spikes the better.
You can color the ties with just about anything - shoe dye works for me. Ballasting is easy, and will anchor your ties even better.
All this is the opinion of a lousy track layer. Good luck!
