I have about 100 to 120 feet of track already laid and a lot more to go. At this point it has dawned on me that I probably should have weathered the track before I laid it? So, what I am looking for is twofold. 1. I need some guidance on weathering the track I already have in place. 2. I need some guidance on what might be a quicker method to weather the track before I put it in place.
I am sure this has been discussed here before but I don’t know how to find the old threads, I guess that is the third item I need.
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The answer to your other question is a little less obvious, and kind of depends on what you mean by “laid”. If you have already ballasted and / or installed scenery it’s a little tougher. If you haven’t added scenery, you don’t need to worry, because the scenery will cover any stray paint (or whatever) from your weathering efforts.
First of all, if your ties aren’t already brown, paint them brown. A good dark brown, because most ties are preserved with creosote. While you can use a brush for this, it’s really tedious to do so. An airbrush or spray can works better. Either mask the rails or wipe them off immediately after painting (you’ll want to do this whether the track is on your layout or not).
Next, you’ll want to add some light gray color to simulate weathering. You don’t want this to be uniform, so an airbrush works very well here (it’s hard to get the light mist from a spray can). You can also use a dilute wash of gray, jus
I prefer a brush for weathering rail and use a flat 1/2" one with fairly stiff bristles. The wider brush requires less-frequent re-filling and the stiff bristles allow you to work the paint in around moulded on spike heads and other details. I like PollyScale acrylic paint, as it gives good coverage, a strong finish, and no odour during application. I usually do 10’ or 15’ of track at a time, then wipe the rail tops with a clean dry rag over my fingertip. Turnouts take a little longer, and I wipe each after completion. Paint both sides of the rail, too (not always so easy when spraying) as you never know when you’ll want to place your camera directly on the layout during a photo session. Don’t worry about getting a little paint on either the tie tops or the ballast, either: the real ones get well-rusted from run-off from the rails and tieplates. The disadvantages of spraying (spray can or airbrush) is the necessity to mask around turnouts, scenery, or structures, the difficulty in spraying the back side of rails, and, worst of all, the dust (dried airborne overspray) that will cover everything in your layout room.
As for your yet-unlaid track, I’d suggest waiting until it’s in place on the layout: if you’re using flextrack, it will be more difficult to flex if pre-painted, and flexing it will cause the rail to slide within the ties, exposing shiny, unpainted areas.
You may be surprised at how quickly the brush painting will go. I painted about 200’ of mainline and a similar amount of passing track and sidings using brush, and found the task to be very relaxing. It has the added benefit of being a job that can be worked on any time you have 10 or 15 minutes to spare: open the paint, work for however long you wish, close the paint and rinse out your brush. No lengthy prep time, no need to do the whole job in a single session, and no airbrush clean-up.
Here’s some prototype track - the one on the right wa
If you just want something simple you can spray the track after it’s down with something like “railroad brown” and then “dust” it with a spray can of flat black or oily black.
Then if you want more “detail” (I didn’t) use a brush with various rusts, grays or colors. Then ballast with your favorite colors.
Of course there’s no end to the details like grass, etc., but you can “salt to taste” until you like it.
I weather track after it has been nailed down using an airbrush and Polly S acrylic paint (rail brown). Soon after spraying the rails and ties, I wipe the top of the rails with laquer thinner. After balasting, I spray it again lightly, to weather the ballast a little… It’s a quick and easy way to do it in my opinion…
