Who weathers their rails

[modelalaska]

Excellent job on the weathering of your rails Karlb. That is one of the best jobs I have seen. Could you fill us in on your method?
Peter

[Anonymous]

I do!

Unpainted rails and brick buildings without mortar have been running rampant in MR over the last year or so, hope they get a handle on it soon!

[ARTHILL]

I have done a little, but I like trees and mountains more, so it is slow going.

[orsonroy]

I do:

And I agree: it DOES make a lot of difference! Track is a model too, and if it's not properly painted it just looks goofy.

[SOU Fan]

I painted my rails and ties and it makes a HUGE difference.  Black ties to brown ties and shiny silver rail to rusty rail makes a world of difference.

 -smoke

[loathar]

I paint and weather mine. That's the first thing I look at in a picture. You see these beautiful painted and detailed layouts and then you see shiney black code 100 ties and bright silver rails. It's like nails on a black board to me.

[modelmaker51]

It's always been part of my track laying routine. Just before ballasting, the track gets painted and weathered, (more weathering will follow in the scenicing phase).

[railroadyoshi]

I will. Will I?

One of those to dos that will probably never get done. :-(

But I do strongly feel that unpainted rails takes a huge amount of quality out of a composition.

I've often wondered if it's better to superdetail the mainline or the yard. While ooperators (at least in my plans) spend much more time on average in a yard or industrial situation, it seems a person would be more likely to bend down and observe the scene more in a mainline setting. Not that it really matters, all of the trackage should be dressed up.

[SpaceMouse]

I do.

[perry1060]

I've got about 1/4 of my layout rail painted with the product linked below. It does have a strong smell so I usually wait until a windy day, and open the house during painting. The product works great!

http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=60104

 

 

Of course with 3 rails, I needed a little more paint then others.

 

 

My web

http://home.mchsi.com/~ironmaster1960/wsb/html/view.cgi-home.html-.html

 

 

[selector]

I do it, and that is with full thanks and acknowledgement to our intrepid jfugate (Joe).  As for the ratio of those who do versus those who don't, I have no idea...if you press me, I'll say something like 1/4 of us get around to it at some point if a layout ever gets near 85% complete, but I see tons of photos where it isn't done.

As for the difference between HO and N, again, no idea, but I would be surpised if there is a statistical difference between the two on a per capita basis.

[jecorbett]

Up until now this hasn't been important to me. It's something I don't really notice when I'm operating the layout but the shiny sides of the rails seem to stand out more in photos. I have decided to at least try weathering the rails on the section of the layout I am currently working on. It is a 15 foot section of double track main with a couple spurs. I've already done about a two foot section and I have to admit, it does look better that way. I am wondering how many modelers take this step. Also, is it more common among HOers and larger scales or do a lot of N scale guys take this step too.