# weathering/ballasting track



## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

ok guys, does everyone atleast paint there rails and ties? Have you seen people just throw down some ballast and think its good enough??

So if i paint my rails, i should paint my railroad ties also? just trying to figure out how much i should weathering i should do to my track before i ballast?

What have you guys done with your layouts?

I have plenty of ballast on hand for my needs. What type of paint do you guys suggest for the rails?

Can i make do with say testors roof brown spray paint for the spraying the track, and use testors grimy black and mist over the track to dull it down a bit? versus a airbrush that i dont have, i can probably borrow a airbrush though if its a 
must
I could probably use a smaller stiff brush and highlight center spots of the track like oil spots or what not, if i go that far
Im looking for a quick easy way to weather my track, i prefer not to spend a long time making sure every little half inch of track is perfect, since it doesnt look perfect in real life.


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## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

I think i can do what it they way i want using some spray paint a razor blade, paper towels and a brite boy. Im all for doing things the cheap easy effective way.

I know some people hate big al mayo on youtube, but he is very talented and alot of what he does on his videos he does it so other people can duplicate what he does without spending lots of money. check him out if you havent


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

I picked up some paint pens for the rails, it's easy enough to just run them down the inside and outside of each rail then wipe the top surface. As for the ties, they dull down a bit when you apply the ballast. I've been considering painting the ties (I've got a cheap airbrush), but I'm not convinced it's necessary. I did it on this bridge (painted rail-tie brown) but there isn't really that much visual difference between that and the section of track that I simply applied ballast to. The brown ties DO look a little better, just not sure if it's worth the extra effort.


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## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

Scott that pic is of the rails painted rail tie brown?
Do you have a picture of the rails with the use of paint pens? Ive heard they go quick as in not covering alot of track...

What are your thoughts of your rails painted that color? Do you like it? Is it the right color you wanted? So you prefer the paint pens over painting?

It looks good btw, have you weathered any other sections of your layout? Or havr you been to busy working on other things?


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## powersteamguy1790 (Mar 26, 2012)

I've painted and weathered all the rails and ties on the "new" JJJ&E. All the track on the layout has been completely ballasted with Arizona Rock & Mineral N scale natural rock ballast. The mainline has been ballasted with ATSF "new Hue" ballast and the yards and sidings have been ballasted with black cinder yard ballast.


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## JohnAP (May 4, 2011)

I use burnt umber craft paint and a paint brush to paint the rails and ties at the same time. A cloth dampened with alcohol after the paint dries to wipe the tops of the rails, followed by the bright boy and track cleaning car.


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## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

Johnap- you use same paint color for rails and ties? Seems simple enough, might have to check that out for myself...

Is there a reason why you guys are waiting for the paint to dry completely?

You would think, or i woukd think it would be easier to clean up the top of rails before the paint has dried completely... 
using say a old razor blade or utility knife blade wrapped and folded in a paper towel dragging it across the top of the rails...
this way with the blade wrapped and folded in paper towel, it stays higher then the railtoad ties so it doesnt wipe the fresh paint off the ties.

Seems like it would be just that much easier cleaning the tops of rails before it dries completly.


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

joed2323 said:


> Scott that pic is of the rails painted rail tie brown?
> Do you have a picture of the rails with the use of paint pens? Ive heard they go quick as in not covering alot of track...
> 
> What are your thoughts of your rails painted that color? Do you like it? Is it the right color you wanted? So you prefer the paint pens over painting?
> ...


I haven't done anywhere else yet. I still have to wire the ore branch town and finish a siding there and also have to build the bridge and wire the track for the coal branch.

I believe the paint I used was a Flat Dark Brown Camoflage paint from Rustoleum in a can. I haven't used the airbrush yet. I painted that bridge in the basement this winter and I pissed my wife off (fumes in the house.) I'll have to set up a fan at the base of the stairs going into the garage to vent them when I paint the rest of the tracks. I painted that track section with the rails off of the ties so it was very easy to paint. I did wipe the excess off the tops of the rails, but be careful to not drag down the sides.

I like the rust color of the rails (especially on the inner guard rails), but I've seen where guys simply paint the rail brown paint on both the ties and the rails and once you put the ballast in it looks nice (rather than taking 2 steps to complete, you only have the 1) I think that's what I'm going to eventually do. It gives the visual effect but isn't a ton of work to do.

This is the best pic I have of the rails. Both the inner guard rails and the mainline rails are painted with the rust paint pen. You can see the difference with the nickel silver rail in the foreground.


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## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

I was just in the store and was looking at that camouflage brown paint and was thinking this should work... good to know thats what you used
i think once you paint the track with the camo paint and ballast the track, it should look very nice! 
I think im going to paint the track and rails with that camo paint. And maybe go back through with a grimy black with a small brush maybe and do some areas with the black

Lol about you pissin the wife off  i can see that happening for me


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

It's a real nice rich dark brown. I would think that rather than a thick layer of paint, all it would take is a quick run down the track applying a light coat. The black plastic showing partially through a light coat may even enhance it. Regardless the shiny plastic look will be knocked down.


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## Carl (Feb 19, 2012)

nothing more fun that painting the rails 

Floquil has a rail paint.....I think I recently ran across a felt pen that is used to paint the rails (I think it is on Fifer Hobbies web site). Floquil has paint for the ties called "Railroad Tie Brown".


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## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

ok guys this is a test track, i used red oxide primer, painted the rails and ties, and i actually like it, it could use a little black streaking or something in the middle of rails or on top of ties, but honestly i dont think that will be too noticeable when i drop the ballast into place.

sorry if pics are that great, i tried to make a light dusting with the rattle can, i think if i cared i could have went lighter or darker depending on which way i should go with it








track without paint, and track with the red oxide primer

















i didnt buy any of this paint, actually had a can laying around, what are your thoughts???


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

Looks decent, maybe a little red. Rails look great. Try putting a little ballast on it to see if the dust dulls down the red a bit (I like a 50/50 mix of small and medium mixed grey ballast)


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## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

OK bare with me, this is just ballast throw on top with no glue, done up quickly to get a brief idea...





































the ballast color looks pretty gray because of the spot light im using, the actual ballast colors im using is what i see around here when i walk down the tracks, alot of gray with a few different colors mixed in. this ballast color works for me.
I didnt mix the ballast size very good, but i will when im doing it the right way, again, i have 2 5 gallon buckets of this stuff, and yes it was all free, makes it even better


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

Looks great. I wouldn't go any further with it as far as painting. One thing I did to was once I got the ballast set down, I stained some black down the middle of the tracks like oil/grease. I used black pastel powders for that.


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## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

Good idea scott


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Joe,

Sorry to chime in late here, but you might enjoy looking at Tankist's (Anton's) track weathering in his thread ... good explanations, photos, results ...

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?p=26078&postcount=29

TJ


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## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

Thanks tj. I was actually wondering if anton was going to chime in on this subject since its similar to what he accomplished


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## JohnAP (May 4, 2011)

Joe,

Your looking good there! Believe it or not it is a lot easier and less messy to clean the rail tops after the paint has dried. That red primer looks a lot like my burnt umber tracks, just a touch more red. The reason I used the burnt umber was cause I had lots of it hanging around. Might even try some in the airbrush if I ever get time, should go a lot quicker than the paint brush! One other thing, no obnoxious fumes with the acrylic craft paint!


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## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

Thanks john

I actually painted a 6-12 foot section of camo brown. Ive seen it suggested by more then a few diff people on the web so i figured wth. When i get home i plan on ballasting that section of track later this evening. I will be sure to add pictures with my comments later today.

I like the color of the paint i used previous for the rails and i like the color of the camo brown for the ties so i was having problems deciding what color to use, i dont want to make painting track more then one easy step so...


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## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

ok, so i thought i was going to like the camo brown paint, i sprayed around 6-12 feet of track, and it dried darker then brown imop, it looks almost black.

So after thinking, i decided to throw some ballast down and see what it would look like if i went along with actual ballasting...

And this is what it looks like, i really dont like it, it looks darker like black, is it just me or?

















































The last picture is of the brown primer that i like

I put that other color brown i had thought of using, and i think im using that other color brown instead, i think that other color looks better with the ballast then the camo brown.
I dont know what it is, it works for other people but i dont think its going to work for me, ive asked a few people what the prefer and they choose the other brown versus the camo brown

Before i go nuts and start painting every peice of track, what do you guys think looks better between the two?

The ballast im using may be bigger then other ballast like woodland scenics but its free and i think it works for me


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

I think either way you go you'll be fine. I know the ties I see around here are more black than brown, not sure if that's due to aging or oil or what. Both look fine.


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## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

camo paint









brown oxide, once the ballast is on, and its brushed across the track it seems to dull down the color a bit, which adds more to it

































I know im probably making this into something bigger then it really is, but hey, this adds to the scenery, so i want it half way decent


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## lears2005 (Feb 26, 2010)

I think the paint looks great. The only thing I see wrong would be the balst looks a bit to big for ho scale or n scale.


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## joed2323 (Oct 17, 2010)

It may be a tad to big? But imop if u walk down real train tracks the rocks to me seem on the bigger side not little tiny pepples.

Im going to try and screen my 2- 5 gallon buckets of free ballast and hopefully it will take most bigger chunks out of the ballast. 

I try and use whats available around my house/free since im a budget modeler.
You cant beat free or free ballast no matter how you slice it. Saves me money for other expensive railroad items.


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