Track Weathering

[Anonymous]

G'day all. Im new to this forum and still getting used to the features (such as search! LOL!). I've got a 14' x 7' layout in my house (not bad for a 19 year old student). Ive got all the track, points, point motors installed. No ballast has been done yet. Im a little confused on the track painting. After reading this thread, I think I might invest in an airbrush. In regards to contact of the locomotive with the rail, is it just the top of the rail, or the side of the rail head inside as well that passes electricty to the loco?

Thanks a lot guys!! =)

Regards,
Mike Forster.

[jockellis]

G'Day, Y'all,
I've only painted the rail once, but thought and thought before I did it; whether to paint before or after. The only decision I could come to was that any way was bad and none was easy. I ended up paying the track, both flextrack and sectional track then spraying only the side which can be seen. The other side will be hidden from view - eventually - by a background wall. The overspray was covered up when I scenicked so that was a moot point. turnouts proved a bear but I stuck pieces of scrap cork roadbed in the vital areas of the turnouts to keep paint out. I couldn't find any of that scissor oil recommended in MR so I just used paint remover. It seemed like I could turn a piece of cloth brown three or four times by running it over the same piece of track. The rail still seems brownish on top but the engines seem to have no trouble picking up juice who who cares. In areas where engines won't be traveling, I didn't try too hard to remove the paint.
Jock Ellis
Cumming, GA US of A

[jfugate]

QUOTE: Originally posted by selector

One other advantage to doing it after ballasting (yes!) is that you will get a prototypical look to the rusty rails and the rust bleeding down onto the nearest ballast. However, this only works with a paint brush. Spraying will leave you with coloured ballast through and through, and not the desired effect of rust stains confined near the rails.

I'm with Selector here. If you browse over to:

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?page=4&TOPIC_ID=32122

You can see in detail how I ballast and weather the track on my HO Siskiyou Line.

[challenger3802]

When weathering the track remember to spray (or brush) the paint away from the check rails on the turnouts, otherwise (like me) you'll be fighting for ages against stray paint, with every engine that stalls on the turnouts!

Ian

[selector]

I agree with all of the above. One other advantage to doing it after ballasting (yes!) is that you will get a prototypical look to the rusty rails and the rust bleeding down onto the nearest ballast. However, this only works with a paint brush. Spraying will leave you with coloured ballast through and through, and not the desired effect of rust stains confined near the rails.

[SpaceMouse]

I think the main problem with pre-weathering is soldering the joints and feed lines.

Doing so after the fact was prety painless with an air-brush. You just paint the whole thing and use a Bright-Boy to rub the paint off. The additional benefit was that my track had never been so clean.

[Anonymous]

hissra,

I just finished weathering my point to point layout. Prior to painting, I firse glued the track down to the foam board and then soldered the joints when attaching the feeder wires to the track. The feeder wires snake down through the 2" foam board are below the layout. This way when you start weathering, you cover the soldered rail joiners and feeder wires with paint. If you paint first, you may run into problems with the solder adhering properly to the painted joiner.

I used Krylon Ruddy Brown Primer, Ultra Flat Black and Gray Primer as outlined in one of the Model Rail Road "How To" Books, but I can't think of the title off hand. I can get it if you like. It is solvent based spray paint and the fumes are strong. If you can spray with a window open, this would be best. I'm sure there are other water based paints that can be applied with an air brush if you have one available.

Larry

Larr

[simon1966]

Welcome to the forum. I think that the answer to your questions is "it depends". If you are using flextrack, pre-weathering results in shiny bits being exposed when the track is bent. These bits then have to be touched up by hand. I prefer to weather once the track is installed. I use water based acrylics, so I am not so worried about the fumes, and I do the weathering before I scenic the surrounding area.

[hissra]

When building a new layout, would it be better (easier) to weather the track before installation or wait until it is in place? It would seem that if you weathered the track beforehand you could do it outdoors to avoid fumes and avoid any overspray on the layout. However, I do not recall anyone suggesting the weathering be done before installation. Thanks for any help.