I’ve copied this over from the weathering thread in case anyone wants Broken ties in their scene.
Broken ties… one or two: use balsa cut to size, break and then stain/paint…
Lots of broken ties and other ties (stored and car loads) buy real wood ties and work on them.
Track weathering…have a look at my previous posts… short version is that track weathering is as complex as car weathering… you won’t make it look right if you just spray it all one colour.
Simple example…
if a tie is just broken the broken wood will be a “fresh” lighter colour (but not white wood unless the tie is untreated - as it might be on a logging road - most ties are high pressure impregnated).
If a tie has been broken some time the shattered ends will be closer to the rest of the exterior tie colour.
Just a thought… what’s going to have broken your tie(s)? they are hefty lumps of wood. They only usually break about the middle with a lot of force… like a BIG digger on a building site crushing through the middle. Sometimes they are cut through the (approximate) middle when track is being taken out.
Otherwise they only usually bust when they are rotten… in which case they will be black(ish) right through and tatty. Where are these rotten sleepers relative to the track? Have they been replaced with new unweathered ones? Has the wet ballast (if a log road has ballast) been changed and/or drainage improved?
have fun 
Concrete ties shatter rather than break. As far as I know they all have rebars through them… so if you cut one in two or more bits and insert wires to link the bits together and bend it about a bit you can create a small work of modern art. It shouldn’t end up longer than the original tie. Aggregate material from the middle can just crumble away. Some concrete ties are taken out because they have chunks knocked off them or cracks right through but nothing much missing. Concrete