Correction

In one of the previous posts, I said I decided upon Aluminum for rail.  Though I would still like to see if Aluminum really is a poor choice for rail, even indoors, I now realize through the advice of a fellow modeler that Aluminum is a choice that is too risky to use without any prior experiences with it, so the track will instead be Brass with only a couple small sections of aluminum to be used solely for test purposes.  This brings my track total to around $200 for one turnout kit, spikes, tie plates, rail joiners and a bundle of rail, and a turnout stand.

Advantages of brass include tht it is easy to clean, easy to solder, and if wired correctly and taken care of, usually is forgiving.