Thanks for the kind words, Earl!
As for the track, I started off by spraying it all (rails and ties) with Rust-Oleum Camo Brown flat. This was done before ballasting.
Next, after ballasting, I applied a thinned-down rust color with a small brush to highlight the very bottom of the rails, tie plates and spikes. Then I went back over the rail sides with a dark-colored paint pen to add some variation to the Camo Brown and to cover up the rust color that I accidentally applied too high up on the rail sides. I finished by cleaning the tops of the rails with a fine sanding block.
Finally, I dry brushed some gray and black on the top of the ties to simulate weathering and some random grease/oil drippings and stains.
Quite the process, but since this is a small module that I built for photographing my trains, I was willing to put in the time and effort. Not sure I would have the patience to fuss that much with a large layout!
