I"ve just stumbled onto an interesting model railroader who has shared some of his ideas on youtube, and I wanted to pass it on. One of his videos discusses a fairly easy method to paint your track. He also has a video on ballasting, which in my humble opinion was excellent.
The url is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXF6aQtl3fU&list=PLqHQgiAJ9oRLx-RdCAB3QPko5q_NpYZEO&index=1
Basically, the tecnique is to paint the track after it's in place, wipe the railheads clean, and paint sparingly at turnouts. The difference is clearly shown between unpainted and painted trackwork. It looks well worth the effort!
Nothing really new. I am surprized the guy use latex paint to paint the rail. Now latex paint does not hold well to any metal surface and easily chips off from the sides of the rail. Guess how I found this one out!
Instead of latex paint, I´d recommend to use an acrylic paint.
I use acrylic as well and despite some of the threads I have read here the 50 cent apple barrel brown from Walmart is good enough.
Joe Staten Island West