That's a great looking scene, Jim.
Most of my tubular track was acquired secondhand, and some of it was quite rusty, especially a big box of 072 curves and straights that I bought very cheap. I cleaned the rusty track just by sanding the tops of the rails and cleaning the pins and pin holes, leaving the rail sides 'naturally weathered'. But it contrasts with newer tracks as you can see in this photo.
Painty sticks sounds like a good easy project; I'll have to try that.
