Thanks to all who replied since my last post on 7/19. I used the contact cement, and probably due to beginner's luck, didn't experience any problems. I ran a pencil line around the roadbed, inside and out, and then unjointed the track into four parts, the straight away, the left loop, the right, and the center where I have the curved rerailer. There were only two places where the joiners didn't grab one track the correct way, but I worked fast and was able to get them in position. I bought myself some time by gently laying the sections between the lines and only when they were in position did I push them down to bind them to the wood.  The train flys!  Again, I know you guys have the experience and I should have waited for a few days before jumping in, but since the cost was minimal and it worked, I'm happy. If I get into this hobby I'll take your advice on future layouts. Thanks again, this forum is a great service! One thing I will share if anyone uses that contact cement for other projects gluing to wood, there were a few places where the cement ran outside of the penciled lines.  Paint thinner on a cotton swab removed it instantly and there are no traces of the cement or the thinner.

My thanks to Doneldon and the Bach-man for your suggestions. I took a long look at what Home Depot had to offer and finally remembered something my Dad used to use in the pre epoxy days, Weldwood contact cement now mfg by Dap. The bottle still has that 1950's look and the odor is distinctive. I went with that because it's one of the few adhesives that specifies that it will bond wood and plastic. It is a contact cement, so once the track is put on the board you have just a minute or so to reposition. Time will tell if the bond is permanent, but that's what the bottle says. Thanks again for your help.

Looking for an adhesive to fasten E-Z track to a new interior door surface.  I want the plastic to wood bond to be permanent since when not in use the layout will be stored vertically behind another door in the house.  If later removal without damaging the track would be possible that would be a plus.  I would like to avoid track nails, if possible, but wouldn't rule that out. Any suggestions? I would appreciate specific product names if possible.

Thanks again, Albert. You know your stuff.

Problem Solved - thanks to 5 guys who helped! Each of you had a piece of the puzzle and it's now solved!Due to my rank inexperience I tried the easiest suggestions and they were successful. I swapped out track at the joints where the loco jumped. I looked at the underside of the front of the engine and saw black rub marks. Some sanding with crocus cloth and trial and error took care of that.  I have run the train 15 times around the dog bone at top speed without any derailing at any of the 5 curves, so I declare the crisis "over." Thanks again, guys!!  For possible future need can the front and rear loco trucks be swapped without too much surgery? I still believe that the front truck's wheels are a bit too wide as even before the sanding and track exchanges the loco both pulled and pushed the cars like a champ when reversed and ran through the rerailer in reverse without a hitch. Do hobby shops stock track gauges or are they available on the web?
Thanks again - my cap's off to you.

Mike, the wheel trucks move freely in all directions. No binding. I used a caliper and measured as best I can and found this:  loco wheels, outside to outside (not flange to flange) all 11.8mm. The wheels on two cars measured 11.9mm. Since this is such a tiny thing to measure, and the caliper is a rather inexpensive one, and 1/10mm is really miniscule, I wouldn't stake my life on the numbers! Eyeballing they all look the same. Can the loco wheels be moved in or out a bit on their axles with careful finger pressure or is there another way to do it. If I were "backwards" I would love this train, it runs like a champ in reverse at top speed and never jumps the tracks! Thanks again for your help. If anyone else has some suggestions, please let me have 'em.

Thanks to all three of you who are helping. I really appreciate it! To answer all your questions. Even with the loco alone it derails when running forward, sometimes even jumping when going thru the rerailer, and that isn't at top speed.  It runs perfectly in reverse even at the controller's top speed. It also runs perfectly, in reverse, with the three cars attached. I don't think curves are too tight as the layout is the one that Bachmann illustrates on the back of the kit box. What's next, guys?

At the tender age of 65+ I'm brand new to the hobby and to N scale. Started with the basic Super Chief set and everything worked fine running the train in the 24" circle, even at top speed. After buying additional track (Bachmann 44811 & 44801) I laid out the "dogbone" as shown on the back of the package. When running the basic  loco + 3 cars at anything other than a very slow speed (the mark on the controller at about the 2 o'clock position) the front truck on the engine derails at each of the four "major" curves. This happens about 95% of the time. The rerailer often, but not always, helps reset the trucks but at the next major curve it jumps off again. While I don't know much, I can say that the track is laid out correctly and every track piece joint is firmly seated including the rail joiners. Also the track is flat on a smooth work bench but is not fastened to it and there are no high spots on the rails, etc . I'm beginning to wonder if the engine is defective. Any suggestion as to how to make this fun instead of frustrating? Any and all suggestions will be appreciated!