As long as you do the railings late in the building, so the model will not be handled too much after the railings are done, they do not need to have super adhesion. They weigh so little they are not susceptible to shock forces- usually only direct contact causes them to come loose. And by like token, they do not stress the paint adhesion with any great force. So I have found, unlike most gluing, I can get by with gluing them over paint. I often apply a few spots of gel CA just to keep them in position while I apply a 50:50 mix of water-thinned white glue.
One trick I use on gluing heavier parts on painted surfaces is to use a pinvise and small drill to drill a number of small dimples through the paint into underlying surface. This is usually enough to get a decent bond with high strength adhesives such as CA.