Weathering track

[AllenB]

Was out for a walk today and went over a pedestrian bridge. Took this picture which I thought was interesting. I've heard a lot of people talk about putting down a streak of black down the middle of their tracks for weathering. But it looks like the reality is it's rust colored not just down the middle but from end to end of the tie.

 

[Selector]

Just like trees, bridges, footpaths, and light standards, they aren't all alike. Those who want to emulate on their layout what exists in nature have a large and daunting task if they want to incorporate all of it. So, as you have done, you take a photo or ten, and try to do the best you can. If you manage to duplicate, even if only closely, in scale what you see in a good photograph, you will find that people who visit are immediately taken with how real everything looks. No two ties look exactly alike. Many of us paint them individually with at least four different tints. It's not to say that any three or five ties in a row can't look the same because they may have all come from the same facility and treatment, and may all have been put in place to replace several degraded ties in a row.

I overdid the streak down my main in this photo by quite a wide margin. It was an experiment that I shall repeat, just with about 1/4 of the black craft paint I mixed with a bit of gloss medium (to make the streak shiny, like grease, oil, or thick creosote). I think you'll agree that I did a much better job on the siding.

 

[Lynnb]

Just do what looks right to you in your layout liting, sometimes less is more.

 

[John P]

My observation has been that the rails and tieplates spread rust into the ballast, but the center of the track is somewhat cleaner. I've tried to reproduce this by brushing a brown wash down the track, but the ballast is essentially a porous medium, and I couldn't predict how the "rusty water" would spread through it. It was a minor improvement even when it worked, so I gave up on it.

 

[Greg@mnrr]

Prior to ballasting, the track was painted with Testor's former Earth color. I used a india ink solution down the center of some of my track after ballasting. The effect is minor, but added to the other all look of the track. In the future I plan on painting the sides of the rail a darker rust or even grimy black color.

I added spilled materials between and along side the rails in siding areas to add realism.

Selector, nice track work and weathering!

Greg