The Caffeinated Engine Driver

Having thought about the sleepers a little more I realised that the main problem with the original approach wasn't so much the colour as it was the texture; they were horribly smooth and unnatural looking. After a few suggestions from different people I've come up with what I think is a simple yet effective approach. The sleeper shown here (the furthest right) is painted using the same basic colour as the other sleepers (RailMatch sleeper grime) but with some additional texture.

The trick was to prime the sleepers using some white gesso which provides a textured surface for the paint to stick to. I then thinned the sleeper grime down a little so that it wouldn't obliterate the texture and finished with a quick black wash. This seems to work well giving both texture and some colour variation and is remarkably easy to apply as you don't need to be particularly neat about the painting. With a little extra weathering as the track is bedded into the layout I think it will work well.