Hi Guys,
I’ve read and watched a lot of articles about weathering railroad track and ties but they don’t seem to talk about concrete ties. The most popular reference is to use railroad tie brown, but how does that look when use on the more modern concrete ties?
So my question is, what colour would you use the weather concrete railroad ties and track?
Thanks in advance.
Dion
Location and weather conditions play a significant role in the weathering of concrete.
Most of the photos and videos I’ve seen of concrete ties in the western states indicate that they don’t ‘weather’ like wood.
If you look at a concrete sidewalk, for example, they don’t change color very much over the years.
If you Google Amtrak Northeast Corridor tracks you will see pictures of weathered concrete ties mostly just rust streaks around the tracks and tie plates.
Concrete ties don’t weather much. A light gray shade is fine. The color of the molded plastic ties on Atlas concrete tie flex track isn’t bad.
Any weathering colours which you apply to the rails (rust, oil and grease, or dirt, will likely be the same colours which would be used on the ties. However, the ties’ lighter colour will not hide any overdone weathering effects as well as the darker wood ties, so you’ll need to be a little more careful with colour application.
I’d use a chisel-tipped 1/2" brush to paint the rails. This will give you good control over where the paint goes and is surprisingly easy to do. You should really go and look at the track you’re trying to model, either in-person or on-line, to get a better sense of what colours should be used - if necessary, mix colours to get a better match. Don’t attempt to paint all of your track in one sitting - paint until you’ve had enough for that session, clean out the brush, and come back to it whenever you have a little spare time to do more. In addition to being a relaxing way to do this task, it also results in no overspray such as you might get with an airbrush or rattlecan and no need for any masking - don’t forget: the concrete ties will show your mistakes much more readily.
Once you’ve got the rails covered (it’s surprising how much the appearance is improved), you can either thin the same paint quite severely and apply it as a wash over the ties - apply more near the rails and less towards the ends and centre, as most of such colour originates from the rails - or use powdered weathering colours similar to that of the paint you used. After that, a little dust-coloured application similar to your ballast colour should help to tone-down any contrasts and blend things together. Most track with concrete ties will likely be well-maintained, with rust from the rails the most apparent weathering.
It might be wise to practise on a piece of unused track, both to get the colours right and to determine the best application methods and materials.
Wayne
Light weathering or drybrushing and the use of Tempra powders may be a usefull way to control your aging/ staining of concrete ties. Heavily traveled mainline and these ties in and around interchange and yards would show more staining/ weathering. I would start w/ prototype pics and experiment with technique before jumping into your laid flex track. You will need to find the technique that will work best for you. The ties start as a uniform light gray, not that close to real concrete, but at least a good base to start. Washes may work to gain an overall color and drybrushing between rail for staining from any heavy traffic.
My concrete ties are ‘weathered’ by the sanders and gearbox drippings of the trains that use them. Under catenary there is a ‘dripped grease’ streak just inside the bases of the rails. Places where DMU and diesel-hydraulic locomotives run have a similar streak right down the middle. ‘Sand’ (talcum powder) accumulates on upgrades, but is absent on tracks run downgrade only. The rail clamps are black - the concrete ties have only been in place for about a month.
So, why streaks and sand? In that month, about three thousand trains have used those rails. Can you say, “Dense traffic?” (Not really, by Japanese standards. After all, in addition to freight, passenger service consists of only two locals and one limited express per hour…*)
*Wikipedia description of the prototype route I’m modeling.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - concrete ties in, CWR coming soon)
Hi Guys,
Thanks for the suggestions. I will grab a few excess pieces of track and experiment with various colour options.
Would painting the ties in a very diluted India Ink was work as well, just to take off the newness of the ties?
Dion
Dion, The overall use of even highly diluted India ink will give the concrete a more grey/ purple cast. You need to go more to a grey/ light tan if not satisfied w/ the factory base grey color. You can use a diluted wash of a light brown tan. By controlling the applied wash you can gain a closer affect. Additional tie weathering can be done from there (grime, between rail oil/ grease stains etc)
These castings were done by overall base and washes and drybrushing
It’s not ties, but can be treated the same