My daughter loves the Polar Express, and I was able to find a brand new Lionel set at a local hobby shop for $150 (!!!). Fastrack, though, doesn’t quite look right on a snowy winter scene around the Christmas tree. Is anyone aware of ways to paint the roadbed? Are there masks available that I can use over the track and ties?
Here is what I did with the similar, but smaller (HO) integral track from LifeLike for purpose of a track weathering clinic I gave at our NMRA divisional meet a few years ago.
A bit of oil on a paper towel was applied to the TOPS of the rails - the purpose is to inhibit paint from sticking. Then, taking the track outside, I used ordinary cans of camoflage color spray paint to weather the ties and roadbed, then immediately wiped the top of the rail with a cloth so the paint would not adhere. Don’t wait for it to dry, do that right away
Now in your case you are looking for a snow effect. Maybe some of the textured “flocking” sprays you see around Christmas time would work; I have my doubts but it does no harm to experiment. I’d go with a white spray paint, maybe flat or semi gloss, and have some those little sprinkly shiny things like you see in Christmas cards ready - glitter --, so when the paint is wet you just sprinkle some here and there. The white paint does not have to fully cover everything – make it as realistic or as Christmas-card-like as you wish
That should give the track the look of fresh sparkling snow. But again make sure you get the paint off the tops of the rails right away.
Dave Nelson
Yeah, i figured it would come down to something like that. At least w/ the HO track I’ve got w/ the plastic roadbed (not going to handlay stuff for a layout that only sees the light of day for a month out of the year), i can pull the track and spray.
My [2c]. That set might become a collectable some day. I wouldn’t paint anything in it. Buy some different track and use that instead.
Got your Email about the On30 pics. The files on my drive are really big and would take some doing to Email. (time I don’t have right now) In the future, use the PM (private message) function here on the forum instead of the Email. You can’t reply to Emails here.
Good luck!
I guess it depends what you want to do. I think the earlier response was related to painting the rails…many model railroaders paint the rails a shade of gray, brown or rusty red leaving just the tops shiny, the way real rail looks on a railroad. I think what you’re actually asking is how to make a snow effect on the track and roadbed though?? If that’s the case, your local hobby shop will have artificial snow that you can buy.
You can use maybe a 1/4" to 1/2" brush to brush a mixture of water and either Elmer’s glue or Matte Medium. (You can get Matte Medium at an art store, your LHS may have it under a different name. Either one works, but Matte Medium is a bit flexible / rubbery when dry. Elmer’s glue is kinda stiff and can kinda chunk off the track and roadbed.) Anyway, sprinkle some of the snow over the wetted roadbed and ties and let it dry. You may want to go back later with say an eyedropper and add more glue or MM to really seal things down. Then you can use a “bright boy” eraser type cleaner to clean any glue or MM off the tops of the railheads.
I’m not painting the locomotive or rolling stock, just the fastrack (which I’ve got gobs of extra anyway).
Re: On30 - i’ll look at them sometime this weekend.
Thanks all 
Yeah, I know you meant the track. Historically, Lionels are worth more when all parts are original. Who knows, there may be some goofy mark on the bottom of the track that says it belonged to that set.
Ebay had a Sears shipping box that contained a limited edition Lionel set. The empty Sears box alone sold for $5800!
Ya never know…[;)]