Clean and shining track is not very prototypical. There are dozens of tutorials how to weather track. Not all methods are as simple as spray painting the whole track. As I do not own an airbrush (yet), I have to reply on spray cans and brushes. My first layout is quite small, so painting the track is not too hard.

First I tried some different spray paints. I sprayed the left half of my test piece with a light brown primer and instantly followed by a light mist of matte black. For the right half I used a slightly darker brown color as base coat, followed by the same black.

Honestly, I’m not overly satisfied with the results. The first coat didn’t cover the tracks completly. I tried to add another fine coat, but it covered all the details in the ties. While cleaning the rail tops, some thinner dropped onto the ties, which resulting insome interesting – but unwanted – holes in the paint. This will require some – or a lot – further practise.

In the meanwhile I made some experiments with weathering powders, which looked very promising. The powders have been mixed up with some solvent. The solvent helps to apply the powders to the surface of the painted track. It won’t work on blank rails. The powders add a beautifull matt color to the rails.