I found a rear track wheel at REI today, priced way too low. The components are pretty mediocre, but it's much better than the spaced-out freehub setup it replaces. Anyways, the swap went pretty quick, but not without some surprises.
So, I have to stop acting like I know what I'm talking about when buying bike stuff. I at least waited patiently for the bike guy on staff at REI to answer some questions about this wheel. I even specifically asked about the axle spacing, knowing I needed 135mm. He confirmed this was 120mm. Cue my chance to be humble and ask, "oh, so will this work on my 135mm frame?" But no, I asserted "Oh, I can always add spacers to bring it out to 135, right?" "Yup," he replied, "just make sure you have enough thread left to secure the axle nuts." Satisfied, I checked out and headed home.
Two hours later, I had the axle spaced and aligned correctly, confirmed a dead-straight chainline, and learned how to re-dish a wheel to get it centered in the stays. That's right, I have a flip flop fixed/free hub that's been dished to one side. Oh well, I guess if I want freewheel I can switch back to my rusty freehub wheel.
