Improving Appearance of 0-gauge Tubular Track

I can't vouch for how they look after application, but Woodland Scenics makes these paint pens for coloring rails and ties that you might want to check out.

https://woodlandscenics.woodla...tegory/TrackPainters

There are blackening agents that places like micro mark sell as well. I don't think the oil on the center rail makes any sense,by doing that you are leaving oil on the rail that can collect dust and grit, and if the oil is on the top of the rail it will get on the rollers and also will cause problems with conductivity. I assume they say to do that to try and keep it from oxidizing but I wouldn't do that. 

There has been a lot written about making the rail look better, here are a couple of other things

1)Paint the side of the rails with a rust color (make sure to clean the top of the rails)

2)Add extra ties between the metal ones, there are firms that sell wood or rubber ones, or you can make them from appropriate wood. 

3)Once you add the extra ties, color them and the metal ties a creosote treated wood color so they match

4)Ballast the track

Look at.neolube

@Father Christmas posted:

I recently read "Tips on Improving Tubular Track"...

What is the source of this information?  

@Mallard4468 posted:

What is the source of this information?  

https://ctt.trains.com/how-to/...better-tubular-track

I'm not sure blackening the middle rail does what you'd expect.  There are many pictures I've seen of layouts where the rails have been blackened.  In a lot of those pics, the darkened rail actually makes it stand out more!

I would suggest the biggest improvment would be to add ties and ballast. I cut my own ties as a kid. If you don't want to make your own I believe Gargraves will sell you ties already stained. Gun blue would be OK. The use of oil afterwards prevents the bluing from turning to rust. It won't have any real affect on electrical conduction. Try it on section if you have doubts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...amp;feature=emb_logo

Pete

I added ballast and ties as suggested by the previous poster, and also painted the sides of the rail.

Joe-I must say that is the most realistic tubular track I have seen. Good job!

The outside third rail is also well executed. Does your equipment have simulated pickup shoes?

Thank you, Don. The Lionel R-27 set in the picture has a suggestion of a third rail pickup shoe on each truck, but nothing that is true to scale. Also, the photos are a little misleading in that the third rail is quite a bit far in scale distance from the trucks.

I was aiming for a "suggestion" of a subway scene, not a scale replica. I certainly don't intend any disrespect towards modelers dedicated to scale accuracy, I'm just having fun and learning and sharing with others on these forums. 😁

As far as the B&C products go, my Grandfather would say if a product was good enough to be used on or protect his rifle, it was good enough for the trains.

I use B&C Sheath a lot. Lightly spraying w/pinpoint, maybe brass brushing any rust blooms from time to time until gone. I might use a deep penetrate carefully, not on paint/electric windings etc), flush it and more with cheaper wd-40 (including windings, and axle gunk, not all paint but some), and finish exposed metal with Sheath (or fresh lubrication oil vs a protective oil) 

Don't use cutting oil. 🤔  Dispose of the linseed oil if you have to ask and don't let it near cotton for long .🔥🚒 

Most oils can do a little of everything for a short term. But "right tool for the job" applies.  Most do a perfect job at cleaning, and removing rust, from metal gjven time.

WD-40 isn't really a lube, and can't compare to many other products for long term protection without regular application. .It's mainly my spray cleaner & flush.

Wahl hair clipped oil is a good light alternative for protection if handy. It's lube quality is low and excess wipes off easy. Any wheelslips will usually fade in a few passes if you miss a spot. 

Wet a rag,.etc with oil, wipe on, wipe well with a dry spot(s) on the rag.

For lube, a light weight automotive synthetic like mobile 1 are often plastic safe and do.their job, to lube well.  You can get fancy train oils and greases too. 

If the surface treatment or plating on tbe track is worn or cleaned abrasively, or rusting, it is especially important to keep metal (esp deep rust, dark with oil)

When I was into HO, my main objection to "Lionel" was the three rails.  I don't know if I am weird or what- but since taking up 3-rail,  2-rail looks weird.  

For my O tubular track (used over bridges and in a "coal yard") I added ties, and rattle-can painted all three rails a rail brown color using a cardboard mask with cut-out openings.  After painting (before it had a chance to dry)  I wiped the tops of the rails using lacquer thinner on a rag.  Then ballasted and weathered, mainly using a black wash (again wiping the rails while the wash was wet.)

@phrankenstign posted:

I'm not sure blackening the middle rail does what you'd expect.  There are many pictures I've seen of layouts where the rails have been blackened.  In a lot of those pics, the darkened rail actually makes it stand out more!

Yes. When Lionel first came out with FasTrack it had a black center rail. Production of that was stopped when it became obvious than it made the center rail "stand out". When I first saw FasTrack at Nicolas Smith Trains around 2005, both were in stock, so I could compare them side by side. I bought the non-blackened version.

I have lots of experience with the Casey Cold Blue product, and several other cold bluing products. Almost 50 years of experience using it.

The reason that guns are "blued" to begin with is so that the bare metal does not rust.  Bluing is a complicated process, involving very hot temperature chemical baths, which end up putting a finish on the metal that will resist rust (but not totally prevent it.)

Cold Bluing is just  a chemical in  a bottle, that you wipe on metal, and then wipe off, which gives it a blue look,  (or in case of some of the products such as 44-40 cold blue, an almost black look.)     It provides no protection against rust whatsoever.   It is just a coloring.  And, it is not permanent.  It can and will wear off with handling and use.   It is primarily used for touching up small areas on a firearm where the original bluing has worn off, and you don't want to spend $300 for a hot blue job.  It is also used when you find a cheap, inexpensive gun, that has old worn out bluing, that you want to make look better, particularly when the gun  is not worth $300 to being with.   Finally, it is used to "blue" very small replacement parts, such as a thin trigger guard, etc., that are not worth sending off to a gunsmith to get hot blued.

In order to apply it, and have it look good, the metal must be absolutely free of rust, and absolutely 1000% cleaned first of any grease or oil, including your fingerprints.   All of the companies sell a "degreasing" liquid that you must apply first, and wipe of with a clean cloth.   Often, people just use acetone, or 98% isopropanol.

The problem with the cheap cold bluing process is that it is real art to apply it and make it look uniform in color.  After you clean it, you must heat up the piece of metal, to about 150 degrees or so with a heat gun, and then wipe the product on with one even stroke with a soft clean cloth, and then immediately wipe it off with one even stroke.  If you don't do all of this, then the metal will be blued, but it will look splotchy, with dark and light areas.  (By the way, it is poisonous.)

Often, you have to do this three or four times to get it to look deep blue.  (The 44-40 goes black really quickly though.)

Once you have achieved the desired color, you have to quench the metal with a light oil, such as gun oil, and let it cure for 1 to 2 days.    If you have done absolutely everything right, you will have a nice uniform blue color, or blue black color, that will last for a fairly long time, if you don't unduly handle it.   And, guess what, it is not a shiny finish.  It is dull, and you must keep a very light coat of oil on it to make it look light real hot bluing and keep it from rusting

Now, having said all of this, I can't imagine why anyone would use this product on his model train track.  Really.

You can be sure that the rollers on your engines and cars will wear it off.

Birchwood Casey also makes a black "touch up" pen, which is used on black aluminum gun parts, when the black adonization wears off.  I have used this as well.   If the aluminum is absolutely clean, it will go on fairly thick, and dry really fast. It will dry to a glossy black.    It just a paint, but is pretty darned tough.  I can't imagine how many of these paint pens it would take to do a large track. 

Hope this info helps.

Mannyrock

Certainly appreciate those 50 years of experience--good info!

I should think that the light grey Fastrack roadbed would contrast strongly with a blackened centre rail?

Wouldn't coloring the center rail the same color as the ballast help a lot?

This is from when our modular group built our smaller, more portable layout....Sept 2014.....

Here is that layout today.....lengthened by another 40".....

If original third rail tubular tinplate track bothers anyone, then it's best you go two rail!

I wanted to use  the 027 Tubular for my Easter project, Since I had extra track, I took apart  the ties and inserted them between the curves using four total per curve I loosened up the ends and space them accordingly.,

After that I blued the center rails ,  for a small layout it worked out ok , Not sure if someone with a large amount need would do this.

In the past I"ve used Gargrave's ties sold separately that look ok this is o\to me at least more tinplate style..daniel

Some have mentioned oil to protect track from rusting.  A grease would be better and one that also will improve conduction even better.  You guessed it, NO OX ID A Special, a conducting grease that has been proven to improve train operation for over 50 years.  It has improved by train operation and also eliminates track cleaning forever.  It can be added to the sides of rails but I let mine rust, just like the real train rails.

If you want to eliminate track cleaning forever and improve the electrical conduction and thus operation of your trains check out the use of NO OX model railroad track treatment at the below OGR link

https://ogrforum.com/...7#159660139173887507

I agree with some that the blackened center rail can attract the eye more than the un blackened center rail. The best bet for improving appearance of tubular track is adding more ties.  I settled for 3 extra ties between each metal tie.

Charlie.

I think your rails look very good.  If the ties are dark enough, the darkened center rail isn't all that noticeable.  Probably even less so if there's dark ballast under it.

If you want the tinplate look then making it more real looking would work against that. One thing if you have tinplate track&want to make it look better, replace the metal ties with wood ones and add other wood ones. It isn't hard, and can look pretty darn good for cheap.

The other thing is to paint the rails a rust red color on the sides.

@phrankenstign posted:

I'm not sure blackening the middle rail does what you'd expect.  There are many pictures I've seen of layouts where the rails have been blackened.  In a lot of those pics, the darkened rail actually makes it stand out more!

I'm of the opinion that a blackened center rail definitely helps IF the rest of the track/roadbed treatment compliments the implementation.

I was experimenting along those lines back in my 3-rail days (early 2000s), and I noticed that a blackened center rail looks its best on a black under base, such as cinder ballast, etc. In my case, I learned that by the appearance of the stock GarGraves "Phantom" track on my charcoal black painted Homasote. Even with the running rails still being tinplate, the blackened center rail was very unobtrusive.

HAD I chosen to go with a white/light colored ballast, then the white would made the contrast of the blackened center rail very obvious.

ALSO, do NOT clean the blackening agent off the top of the center rail. If you do, the ball of the center rail is now shiny and grabs light (and your eyes) like a magnet.

To illustrate, here's one of the few surviving pictures I have of my small, urban switching 3 rail layout experiment I refer to:

IMHO, in the above pic of a simplistic in-process layout, the blackened center rail significantly helps to mute the center rail.

Andre

First, I agree with others that adding extra ties is a quick, relatively easy and cheap 'boost' to the appearance of 3-rail tubular track. My first effort was to add a couple of DIY wood ties between each pair of OEM metal ones, and later did ballasting using hand-screened crusher run rock:

I also experimented with painting the center rail, but found that, with my relatively light-colored ballasting, it didn't help much, even after I added powdered charcoal between the rails to simulate drippings from the trains and darken the ballast.

By contrast, when I installed the elevated track, I used *three* extra ties between the metal ties, and left them natural and unballasted (over an eighth-inch brown hardboard base):

My bottom line is that, as long as you're using old school three rail tubular track, you have a built-in compromise with realism, and IMHO the best you can do is try to strike a balance between the two that you can live with!

@scottyhubcaps posted:

I have rubber ties if you want them just pay for shipping not sure how many I have here’s a photo . Some not used at all most used but very good shape maybe about 200 little less

If the offer was directed to me in response to my post, thanks, but at least for now I'm done with track modifications. so I'd be glad to let them pass to someone else. FWIW, it appears they'd be perfect for infilling between the ties of tubular track, and could save someone a lot of band sawing!

no problem if anyone can use them they can have them. better than sitting in my basement.

Hey scottyhubcaps, if you haven't given those ties away, I'd love to have them. I'll send you an email. Thanks for offering them.

Tom

Sure Tom I’ll wait for the email

Here is some of my tubular track with ties and ballast.

@mikey posted:

Here is some of my tubular track with ties and ballast.

Nice job, Mikey!

It's interesting that you took a different path on several choices than I did:

- First, it looks like you elected to make your 'filler' ties more square and prototypical, rather than emulating the size and shape of the OEM metal ties as I did. I considered doing something like you did, but thought the add-ins might blend in better if they were roughly the same size as the originals. Having now seen your version, I think either way would have been just fine!

- Second, you completed painting your middle rails in flat black, whereas after experimenting, I backed off and decided not to do so. As others have commented, flat black seems to work best against a black or darkened background for the rail, but against light color ballast, it only serves to highlight the third rail rather than camouflage it. I guess what we need is a "ballast camouflage" color paint!