What is best thing to stain railway sleepers?

I used sikkens HLS Plus: Light Oak after testing several other products (Cuprinol, Ronseal etc) i even used Deck Stain, wood dyes etc on the test areas but chose sikkens as it looked the best and was a low build solvent based penetrating pre-stain which meant it soaked deep into the wood but was translucent enough to still see the grain..... after lots of sanding with a electric hand sander Light Oak dried more like Dark Oak on rough timber but after 2 coats it looks great so beware not to choose a colour too dark like walnut as it will look black..... The downside is the cost £58 for 5ltr, £33 for 2.5ltr £14 for 1ltr..... i needed 6 ltr for the first coat and 4 ltr for the second to stain 50 sleepers... but the finish i got out weighed the cost as you don't want to mess your hard work up at the last hurdle by choosing the wrong stain... whatever brand you choose make sure it is a low build stain as medium to high build smother the grain and have a satin finish which doesn't look right