George Sellios on Weathering a Model Railroad Track

Weathering the components on a model railroad layout is one of the most important aspects for making your scenery as realistic as possible. All railroads, no matter how old or well constructed, will experience aging and wear and tear, especially the trackage. Rust, warping and dirt happen to real railroad tracks, so naturally they should also happen to scale model railroad tracks.

Master modeler George Sellios is one of the hobby’s best at weathering the elements of his layouts, especially when it comes to making his trackage appear aged and worked on. So to help you figure out the best way to weather the tracks on your layout, George walks you through the step-by-step process he uses to make his trackage look dirtied, rusted and beaten up. You’ll learn the proper technique and materials necessary for weathering the ties, rails and sidings of your main line as well as the branch lines, including snipping the rails and using commercial paints to add things such as fading and grease and oil stains. See what you can do to make your tracks as realistic as possible, and as always, have some fun with it!