In a hobby shop recently I saw what presumably was the orange rust color for tank tracks. I've mentioned questions about track rusting before, but I wondered what the stages are for when a steel tank tracks turn orange. How long, in what locations, etc.

Steel tracks rust quickly especially in the presence of moisture. But if the tank moves around some of the rust is rubbed off by contact with road wheels and the soil, and raised areas of the track links can almost look polished where they're in contact with a drive sprocket or rocky ground. IMO solid orange is wrong unless the vehicle depicted has been motionless for quite some time. Look at construction or farm machinery that is in regular use vs. equipment that has been sitting idle for a long time. Abandoned equipment has both orange fresh rust and darker, reddish rust that shows prolonged inactivity, so it depends on what your build is meant to depict.

IMO a black or dark grey base, with a wash of rush that will collect in crevices and holes, and light dry brushing of silver on the high points usually looks pretty good. If there are rubber-rimmed road wheels a soft art pencil does a good job of simulating the contact points of rubber on track.

There was me.
That is, Alex,
and my three droogs.
That is, Pete, Georgie and Dim.
And we stood in the hobby shop,
trying to make up our rassoodocks...
what kits to buy.

Dang Gary!!!

Ultraviolence much?

Well, Tom started it.

I never saw the book or movie. I just wanted to come up with a clever thread title.

You succeeded!
The film is hard to watch in spots, even today, but it is a classic. And I always like a clever title or headline.

I found it was best to get good and hammered then it makes sense!

A better thread title would have been "rust never sleeps".