Testing weathered track
Here is an overview shot of me at my test station and hobby work area set up on my dinner table. It is hardly a glamour shot but is typical of me at home working on my model railroad. The raised platform on my table is the deck for my upper staging yard on my model railroad. There are photos of me building it last year. I pulled it off for several days so I could paint it without making a mess on my layout and get to the track on my lower staging yard. Piled on the deck are several of the tools I am using plus the paint pens for weathering the track. I painted the track a few pieces at a time on my plastic cutting board and have already completed that part of the operation. The track paint is water soluble and comes off easily in the kitchen sink.
For several months I have been weathering some of my bright and shiny Kato Unitrack using felt tip paint pens from Woodland Scenics. I paint the steel rails a brown-black color and some of the wooden crossties (sleepers in UK rail terminology) a dark brown color. That makes the track look a lot more realistic, but the paint must be removed from the top of the rails, the rail joiners, and certain parts of the switch points in order to maintain electrical continuity between the trains and track. After the paint has dried, I rub an abrasive Bright Boy along the tops of the rail, the metal portion of the Unijoiners, and the inside surfaces of the switch points.
I snap the Unijoiners back onto each piece of track and connect each weathered piece of track with my test rig. The 12 volt DC power is fed via the blue and white wires from my power supply to an unpainted S62F feeder track upstream from the items to be tested. In this case, I am testing a left hand #6 switch and several pieces of curved and straight track to make sure I have continuity. The red and black wires control the switch motor. I run the engine forward and backward on each route of the switch several times to insure a good electrical path. All of my newly painted track is tested on my work table before I install them on the layout.
Testing weathered track
Here is an overview shot of me at my test station and hobby work area set up on my dinner table. It is hardly a glamour shot but is typical of me at home working on my model railroad. The raised platform on my table is the deck for my upper staging yard on my model railroad. There are photos of me building it last year. I pulled it off for several days so I could paint it without making a mess on my layout and get to the track on my lower staging yard. Piled on the deck are several of the tools I am using plus the paint pens for weathering the track. I painted the track a few pieces at a time on my plastic cutting board and have already completed that part of the operation. The track paint is water soluble and comes off easily in the kitchen sink.
For several months I have been weathering some of my bright and shiny Kato Unitrack using felt tip paint pens from Woodland Scenics. I paint the steel rails a brown-black color and some of the wooden crossties (sleepers in UK rail terminology) a dark brown color. That makes the track look a lot more realistic, but the paint must be removed from the top of the rails, the rail joiners, and certain parts of the switch points in order to maintain electrical continuity between the trains and track. After the paint has dried, I rub an abrasive Bright Boy along the tops of the rail, the metal portion of the Unijoiners, and the inside surfaces of the switch points.
I snap the Unijoiners back onto each piece of track and connect each weathered piece of track with my test rig. The 12 volt DC power is fed via the blue and white wires from my power supply to an unpainted S62F feeder track upstream from the items to be tested. In this case, I am testing a left hand #6 switch and several pieces of curved and straight track to make sure I have continuity. The red and black wires control the switch motor. I run the engine forward and backward on each route of the switch several times to insure a good electrical path. All of my newly painted track is tested on my work table before I install them on the layout.