AN OUT OF TOWN MLG CREW FOUND ITSELF ON THE RWY TRYING TO FOLLOW 'STANDARD TAXI' PROCS IN FOGGY CONDITIONS AT RDU.

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DURING TAXI FROM GATE AT RDU FOR TKOF ON RWY 5L; WE WERE GIVEN CLRNC TO TAXI FROM T6 (A POS ON THE RAMP TAXIWAY) TO RWY 5L VIA TAXIWAY B (TAXIWAY PARALLEL TO RWY 5L). AFTER TURNING L ON TAXIWAY B (THE OUTER TAXIWAY); I BECAME TEMPORARILY DISORIENTED AND IN MY MIND I WAS ON THE INNER TAXIWAY NEEDING TO BE ON THE OUTER TAXIWAY. MY INTENTION WAS TO 'JOG' TO THE R FROM THE INNER TO THE OUTER TAXIWAY AND THEN CONTINUE TO THE TKOF END OF RWY 5L. AFTER MAKING A 90 DEG TURN TO THE R ON A CROSS TAXIWAY (B4) AND STARTING ANOTHER 90 DEG TURN TO THE L; I SUDDENLY REALIZED FROM LIGHTING; MARKINGS; ETC; THAT I WAS PARTIALLY ON RWY 5L. STOPPING THE ACFT; I INSTRUCTED THE FO TO 'TELL THEM WE'RE ON THE RWY'. 'THEM' AT THIS TIME WAS RDU GND CTL AND THEIR REPLY WAS 'CONTACT TWR'. TWR INSTRUCTION WAS TO TAXI SW ON THE RWY AND EXIT AT B3 (THE NEXT RWY EXIT). THERE WERE NO ACFT ON FINAL FOR THE RWY AND NONE IN TKOF POS AS I INCORRECTLY TAXIED PARTIALLY ONTO THE RWY. AN ACFT WAS TAXIING TO THE TKOF POS (NOT YET ON THE RWY) OF THE RWY AS TWR WAS BEING NOTIFIED OF OUR POS. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 223561. I REQUESTED AND RECEIVED OUR PRE-DEP CLRNC OVER ACARS FOR OUR TRIP TO DFW FROM RDU. THE PDC SAID TO EXPECT 5L FOR DEP. SINCE THIS WAS ONLY THE SECOND TRIP INTO RALEIGH FOR THE CAPT AND ME SINCE THE INITIATION OF THE NEW STANDARD TAXI RTES AS OUTLINED IN A COMPANY PUBLISHED TAXI PAGE; WE BOTH SPENT MORE TIME THAN NORMAL STUDYING AND DISCUSSING THE WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS AND THE ARPT DIAGRAM WHILE WE WERE PARKED AT THE GATE X. AS WE MADE OUR L TURN TO TAXI N ALONG THE EDGE OF THE RAMP; WE ENCOUNTERED THE LEADING EDGE OF THE EBOUND MOVING BANK OF GND FOG. ALTHOUGH THE FOG WAS NOT PARTICULARLY DEEP (I COULD EASILY SEE OVER THE FOG); WE DID EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTY SEEING THE TAXI LINE AND THE ADJACENT TAXI SIGNS. WE WERE TOLD STANDARD TAXI 5L. THE CAPT STOPPED THE ACFT SUDDENLY AND SAID SOMETHING TO THE EFFECT; 'OH; NO; THIS IS THE RWY; CALL THEM.' I TOLD THE TWR OF OUR POS AND REQUESTED BACK TAXI TO EXIT. WE TALKED ABOUT THE CONFUSION OF THE NEW STANDARD TAXI PROCS AND THE AMOUNT OF WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS THAT ACCOMPANIED EACH SET OF INSTRUCTIONS. PERHAPS THE BIGGEST FACTOR IN PLAYING INTO THIS MIND SET IS THE LAYOUT OF THE RAMP AT RDU AND ITS CTL. THE STANDARD TAXI PROC FOR RWY 5L SAYS IN PART 'AT T6 TURN L ON TAXIWAY B (OUTER)...' IF THE WORD 'OUTER' HAD NOT BEEN IN THE INSTRUCTIONS; I DON'T THINK THAT WE WOULD HAVE CONFUSED TAXIWAY B AS BEING THE INNER. I AM ALSO CONCERNED AT HOW DIFFICULT THE COMPANY ARPT DIAGRAM PAGE IS TO READ AND INTERPRET. AT THE B4 INTXN TO THE RWY; THERE IS SINGLE RED RWY IDENT SIGN ON THE L SIDE OF THE TAXIWAY INTXN BUT NOT ON THE R. HOLD SHORT LIGHTS IN THE TAXIWAY AT THE PAINTED HOLD SHORT LINE WOULD HAVE HELPED PREVENT THIS INCURSION. BECAUSE OF THE GND FOG; THE WET TAXIWAYS; AND THE REFRACTION OF THE NOSE TAXI LIGHTS; THE HOLD SHORT LINE WAS AT BEST DIFFICULT TO SEE.