Will, I hope you don't think you need to handlay track to become a 2R guy, because it could be an unfriendly entrance into 2 rail depending on your experience once you start doing it. It is not going to be lots cheap either since quality supplies are not inexpensive,
Unless your trying to build a large railroad as fast as possible, buying flex track a few pieces at a time and a switch once in a while should be a reasonable approach both financially and availability wise. You could get your feet wet in 2 rail and discover the in's and out's and figure out what you really want without the struggles of handlaying to start off deal with.
The guys who chose to handlay often want the extra detailing it can offer, and are buying the cast frogs, points, throwbars etc from places like Right-O-Way and using tieplates on each crosstie with 4 spikes per tie, this yields superdetailed track and takes a serious effort.
Certainly you can do this too depending on your level of interest, but consider wading into the shallow end of the 2 rail pool first and learn to swim before heading into deep waters.
I want you to have a successful 2 rail experience Will, and I wish you good luck.
Bob
