Straight track is easier... 

Straight track is easier...  but wit a little forethought, curved can be simple....   try insetting a piece of high quality aircraft plywood... for example, 1/4 inch, from the hobby shop... into the top of the joining area, across the modules...   add roadbed, glued securely, then track over it. Secure the track well with nails or adhesive, but do NOT glue under the joints. when the glue is dry, mark the track locations on either side of where the joints will be, glue lightly with superglue,  cut the track gently with a Dremel, and remove the "patch" with the track attached...   Ballast the short length of track separately, clean up the edges, and replace. The plywood will hold the curve. Add some scenery bits you can use to lift the plywood out when you need to...  trees, eletrical boxes, whatever.  

Try to stay perpendicular

module joints

   I use PC board ties at the joints with the rails soldered to them.With a positve alignment system such as bolts or metal pins the sections will go together perfectly everytime . The PC board ties are glued to a solid base ,plywood in my case. If the rails cut across the joint at an angle just angle the ties to match fanning them back to square in about 4 tie spaces. I use 4 PC board ties on each side of the joint but three would probably enough. An easy way to get the rails in alignment  is to bolt the sections together then glue down the PC board ties then lay the rails across the joint and solder them to the ties, then use a thin dremel disc to cut the rails at the proper place( if the track crosses on an angle cut the rails on the same angle). The dremel disc leaves enough clearance to  remove and replace the section when desired. I use this technique on my lift up access bridge too. If you are using flex track you can lay a 36 inch piece across the section joint by marking where to remove the plastic ties so the rails can be soldered to the PC board ties. With the platic ties remove glue down the flextrack and when the adhesive sets solder the rails to the PC board ties ,then cut the rails as above.....DaveB

Some info for you

HI arvanlaar,

While the conventional wisdom is to jump modules with the track perpendicular to the joint line, sometimes this just isn't possible. 

Have a look at  https://forum.mrhmag.com/magazine-feedback-was-ezines-891776 both the article and the comments after, especially my post that gives a guide to how to do jumps on curves using PC board to maintain track alignment.

Please also note Peter's comment on alignment tolerances for HO track. A caution - for smaller gauges and railcodes, your alignment has to be even more accurate - If you are out by 1/2 a rail-head dimension then you are very likely to have derailments as you jump the module joint. 

Here's some of the stuff we're doing in O narrow-gauge using HO code 100 rails. The layout has progressed a lot since this early construction photo.  

5 Modules, 8 tracks across module joints, with tracks crossing module joints at 7 different levels, mostly on curves, mostly on grades, with only 1 module jump being done on the flat and with the track perpendicular to the module edge. 

Yes it can be done, but you need to think through your module joining process so that the next module goes up against its mate in the same place first-time every-time in X-Y-Z axes. Anything less than that is asking for derailment trouble when you are jumping module joints on tighter radius curves (say well under 30" radius). Curves larger than 30" radius can almost be considered to be "straight track" when it comes to jumping module joints. Some of the curves jumping modules in the photo above are under 15" radius. At such tight radii, use the thinnest cut in the rail possible.

Have a look at 

Here both rails have been soldered to the PC board blocks, but the rails have not been cut and the isolating grooves in the copper surface are done last. Ideally the PC board blocks should be longer. The outer rail at right almost missed the edge of the PC board block. You also need to have something solid on the module frames to screw the PC board to. Ideally both modules should have a solid profile under the track on both sides of the module joint with minimal gap between the profiles. 

Hopefully there is enough in this post to get your thinking started. Any questions, please ask and I'll try to dig out some better photos. Happy New Year (almost)        

One thing that has not been mentioned, yet is to protect

the ends of the rails when/if you take the modules apart.  If the rails are flush with the end of the sections/modules whatever you call them, it takes a very small bump to knock the rails off and bend them badly.  A few of the guys in the modular club have module sets that always go together when they are used in a layout, and instead of having the rails set back 2" from the end and using a 4" joiner track, the rails come right flush to the edge of the module sections.  When these module sections are packed up, the owners have aluminum anglem pieces that are screwed into the end of the module to protect the ends of the rails before the modules are packed away.

When we set up, the aluminum is taken off last just before the modules are bolted together.

This is why Joe's question at the end of his post is important.  If you are going to set the sections together and leave them that way forever, you are good to go.  If you are going to need to take them apart, you need to protect the rail ends from having them bump into anything and rip the rails off anytime you take them apart.  Even if you use circuit board ties and glue them down bumping the ends will easily break the glue loose and then bend the rail.

Another thing

If you can't change the track to be perpendicular to the edge of the module, change the angle of the edge of the module to be perpendicular to the track. No rule that personal, private modules have to be perfect rectangles.

First off, thank you

First off, thank you all for your responses. I greatly appreciate them!

So from what I have gathered from you all, there are a few things I need to keep in mind:

1. Cut perpendicular or the world as I know it may end.
2. Solder the rails at the join to ensure they do not move around when assembling/disassembling.
3. Make sure to have some way to ensure the joint can be aligned repeatedly whenever you set it up.
4. Protect the end of the rails in case of accidental contact while setting up, assembling/disassembling/storage

Joe, this will be home layout and I don’t imagine it will ever be on the road. I doubt anyone will want to see my first attempt at a layout haha Being that it will be a home layout and will be set up and taken down every time I want to use it, is there anything else that I should be aware of now that you know that information?

I am a little confused regarding the PC board ties. I have seen others, including the article that John directed me to, having the very end of the rails sitting on top of screws and the rails are then soldered onto these screws.  What is the PC board for?

Thank you for your feedback guys! I am happy to know that I can manage the 2 connections I will need on my home layout but connecting a curve. I was very worried I was not going to be able to do that.

PC Ties

The PC board ties are actually plates of printed circuit board, that have been milled to resemble ties.  The plate is attached to the subroadbed at the edge of the module, and the rails are soldered to the "ties" on the plate. Example plate.

An excellent description of how they are used is in the Railroad Line Forums thread for the Free-mo return loops built by James Koretsky, where he uses plates similar to these for over a dozen curved module joins.

  "I am a little confused

PC board ties replace the plastic ties near the section joint. The PC board ties are glued to a solid base and the rails are soldered to them. This gives a more sturdy end of rail connection and holds the alignment better than plastic flextrack ties alone. The joint doesn't have to cross the tracks at a right angle, it can be an angle crossing which just requires angling the ties to match the angle of the joint then fanning them back to square where the plastic ties remain. Here is a square joint with PC board ties , they will eventually be painted and weathered to match the flextrack ties.....DaveB

I've Done it Successfully

Check out my DOMTAR Pulp and Paper Mill threads for Bench Work and Track Work.

I have built a sectional layout that has moved with me several times over the last few years with no alignment issues on curves. None of my curves cross the joints at 90 degrees and there is no problem. 

The key is to design your bench work for accurate realignment of the sections each time and fix the rails to a solid location at the joint.

- Build your bench work out of plywood and seal it so that there is good dimensional stability.

- Build the joints of each section at the same time so they align perfectly.

- At the joints solder rail on to PC board ties that are glued to MDF strips with Gorilla glue. MDF is glued to plywood subroadbed with wood glue.

- And as always, sanding and filing of the roadbed, rail, bottom of ties, etc... so that all the transitions are smooth and free of burs is also key.

Although I haven't tried it yet, this method should also work with turnout frogs across the joint.

The Purpose of the PC or Screws

Is to MORE SECURELY fasten the rail ends at the joint to maintain alignment. As stated above, just the plastic ties are not strong enough to do the job. Just two different approaches to the problem.

Espee over Donner

Angled section ends

 Here's a couple of section joints where the tracks angle across. The first on is a relatively shallow angle  and and the second one a sharper angle.  Note that I found I didn't need a lift up at the second photo location so I permanently screwed it closed and puttied up the joint . ...DaveB

Extreme angles are sometimes needed!

When I built my small N scale layout along one wall of a spare bedroom, the track plan allowed running in one direction only.   A helix at each end of this layout brought trains up to a higher level along the back wall and at the right hand end the helix was hidden within a city and emerged again at table level from a tunnel portal near the fascia. Years later, when I expanded across the end of the room and along the opposite wall, I ended up with a return loop that brought trains back to the original layout but running in the opposite direction to how they started.  I needed a way to reverse direction on the original side too.    The only solution I could come up with was a drop down section ( to save space in the room when not running trains) that held a reversing loop.

This required adding a turnout inside an existing tunnel and bringing the new reversing loop track out onto the drop down table.

With the table up in position, I installed plywood either side of the cut and glued flex track to the plywood with good epoxy.  Then with a Dremel I cut the rails so that the table could be dropped.

But this ended up with the track being cut at an extreme angle...

My N scale trains have no trouble negotiating this cut.  (I also adding a locking pin to the controls for that turnout so that trains can't be directed out toward the loop if the table is not swung up into position.)   

So, not the best way to go, but workable when your back is against the wall.

NinVictoria

Impressive engineering!  I very much like the way you split the tunnel portal.  I am planning a similar drop-down section in HO and was planning on reusing some standard hinges.  I think the piano hinges you used are a much better solution.  Thanks for that.

flush ends on modules -Sipping and Switching of NC

We run our track flush to the end for our Sipping & Switching modules.  The system has evolved over the years - starting with a piece of printed circuit board screwed to the end of the module, with track then soldered to the PCB.  Obviously, gapped in the middle.

More recently, we have evolved to soldering to four brass screws, two per rail.  The screws are run into the end plate of the module.  Works like a champ.  Would work fine for a track that crosses the module boundary without being perpendicular to the end.  There are several such occurrences in members' modules.