Thank you, Ed, for the reply.
I'd done some digging on the web over the weekend and many say about the same thing. Some further complain about the look of the resulting "spike". Others say they can spike dozens of feet of rail in no time at all, but I'm starting to question if it's worth it.
I did order the parts from Kadee just in case. Part of the problem may be a shim sitting above the hammer, or lack thereof. If there isn't enough shim, the hammer descends too far and bends the rails. So you must take care to shim it properly.
Well, since I paid for it, I'll give it a try on some scrap track and QuickSticks frets, just to see what I can do with it. If it doesn't work, I suppose I'll chalk it up to learning/OJT.
Also being an engineer, I've been thinking about solutions that could use the 1/4" spikes that would automate the process yet not be so damaging to rail. Perhaps the old ways are best, but it's in the engineer's DNA to come up with alternatives. I suppose I ought to spike a few rails the old way before I try to reinvent the process.