Hi Brendan,

> Am I correct in thinking that a Join will make all
> the curve segments into one curve? Or should
> I draw a curve (the rail) as Freeform > Control Points?

Yes definitely use Freeform > Control Points where you can to get a smooth curve, one thing about surfaces and modelling from curves is that your surface is going to be as good as your curves so, bad curves equal bad surfaces.

What Michael is assuming and the way most would do is use a curve to Boolean>Diff the shape out as long as your model is a solid, you don't have to use Loft for everything as some might think ;)

Here's a short video showing what I've just explained.



Cheers