Tunnel Entrances

[jeffers_mz]

The first place every visitor here seems to look is into the tunnels. They follow a train into the tunnels to see where it went, and they watch the tunnels in case a train might come out.

The "tunnel liners" here are part of the lift off design. The first two layers of styrofoam terrain base are glued in place. That creates a 4 inch deep canyon the trains run into and out of. The tunnel roof is formed by the underside of the third layer of styrofoam. The third, fourth and all additional layers of two inch thick styrofoam are all glued together, but are not fixed to the layout. They lift off for easy access to the tunnel system for cleaning and maintenence.

A four inch high tunnel entrance is too tall to look right. With only the first two layers of foam in place, it is easy to span the canyon entrance with masking or duct tape, which is then reinforced with two layers of plaster cloth. From there, buiilding an appropriately sized tunnel portal is easy, without affecting the upper, lift-off layers of foam.

Given the size of the human head, in relation to a tunnel portal less than 4 inches tall, it is very difficult to see the tunnel roof without a mirror or other optical aid.

We treated the visible portion of the tunnel side walls as regular rock, except we only painted them dark gray followed by medium gray, skipping the light gray highlights exposed rock get elsewhere. The absence of a finished rock tunnel roof is not visible from any viewing position on the layout.

A train mounted video camera would discover our subterfuge, but we don't have any of those, and if we ever get one, I guess we'll finish the underside of the third foam layer over the tunnels, along with the deeper sections of the tunnel walls. Not a high priority at present.

The finished tunnels are well worth the minimal effort. Locomotives with brighter than normal headlights are a real treat, as they illuminate the tunnel interior from out of sight around the curve, then light up the craggy tunnel interiors, the rails, and the drainage ditches beside the track as the train emerges from the tunnel, a very nice looking effect.

[LD357]

 I had some vinyl cove base moulding from a remodel and I used it on my N scale layout, it works great, and made a really nice base structure for the hill on top of the tunnels.  It bends easily so you can really work it around if you need to.

 Basically anything that gives the illusion of a wall will work, paint it black and make sure you have plenty of clearance for trains.

[loathar]

Depends if the track is curving or not.  For straight track when I had tunnels I took a couple of pieces of pine and cut out a tunnel portal sized hole in them.  then flipped them over and screwed a 1 x 2 between them on both edges.  next step was the old soupy plaster paper towell allowed to drape in the mold.  Scraped off after after drying it was bench painted and set in place. 

That's about what I did with some pieces of plywood. Just made a squared off U shape and covered the inside with plaster painted dark grey. I made mine about 14" long. (HO)

[Phoebe Vet]

"There are ways to create elaborate interiors for tunnels but to me that is not time well spent. Few will actually even notice it. I'd much rather spend my time on the more visible portions of the layout. Tunnel interiors are one place where the "good enough" approach is more than adequate.  "

 

Unless, of course, you have a cab mounted camera...

[tomikawaTT]

Quick and dirty - black construction paper glued to thin foamboard.  The foamboard is tacked to the edge of the cookie-cut roadbed, which is only fractionally wider than minimum clearance for the specific track.

For those tunnels where the interior can't be seen, I don't even bother.

For the one tunnel running parallel to (and close to) the fascia, I'm tempted to borrow an idea from a long-ago club layout - lexan strip in the fascia, fully-detailed concrete lined tunnel with lights and safety niches.  (I also have dreams of doing the same with an 'operating' TBM.)

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[jecorbett]

A viewer tends not to look inside the tunnel unless there is something that draws their eye so all you really need is something that will not draw attention. A plain flat black wall does the trick for me. For my HO tunnels, two 2" pieces of extruded foam laminated together creates a wall of sufficient height. And then I cap it with a 1" piece of foam for the ceiling. I spray the walls and ceiling with a flat black paint. Many oil based paints will disolve foam but I found this to be a plus because it creates a textured surface inside the tunnel. The key is to figure out how long the walls  and ceiling need to be so the viewers eye will not see the end of them from any normal viewing angle.

I have a dummy interchange with another railroad. The mainline of this railroad is a short section of track running diagonally from the front of the bench work to a tunnel less than six inches from the wall. I was concerned it would be obvious the track ended at the wall but by painting the wall black behind the tunnel portal and closing it off on both sides and the top, you cannot see to the end of the track. The track seems to disappear into a black hole just a few inches beyond the tunnel portal. Just the illusion I wanted.

There are ways to create elaborate interiors for tunnels but to me that is not time well spent. Few will actually even notice it. I'd much rather spend my time on the more visible portions of the layout. Tunnel interiors are one place where the "good enough" approach is more than adequate.   

[selector]

This can be done any number of ways, as the previous posters suggest.  I lined my tunnels behind the portals with ground goop, shaped to look "rocky" and merely brushed them black or spray painted them black (always flat black).  I even used chunks of waste extruded blue foam and caulked them to make a U-shaped collar which I inverted and set in place behind the portal after I had spray painted it.

[Phoebe Vet]

Line it with sheet cork, painted to look like dirt or rock and bent into an arc over the track.  I paint mine with Rustoleum Stone paint.

[ARTHILL]

I have used the WS and carved foam. They both work and look as good as the time you put in them.

[trollw]

Another method that I have seen is to make a 'tube' liner out of cardboard. Then crumple up aluminum foil (the heavy duty kind is a little easier to work with), 'kind of' straighten it out and glue it inside the tube liner, then spray it with a dark rock color.

[bogp40]

Depends if the track is curving or not.  For straight track when I had tunnels I took a couple of pieces of pine and cut out a tunnel portal sized hole in them.  then flipped them over and screwed a 1 x 2 between them on both edges.  next step was the old soupy plaster paper towell allowed to drape in the mold.  Scraped off after after drying it was bench painted and set in place.  For curved tracks I used little blocks of styrofoam glued in place and draped soupy plaster towells over the styrofoam and painted them in place.

Here's a pic of basically the same method done by ndbppr. The only difference here is that a few wall castings were glued to the pine 1x. The rest of the 1x extending into the tunnel is painted black. The outer retaining walls and wing wall will be placed later during scenery.

Other portals have been lined w/ the WS tunnel liner. Three casting were done for the viewable side and glued to a piece of pine also.

 

[mrnimble]

Excellent ideas, both.  Thanks.  I've looked at the WS molded solution but somehow it doesn't seem solid when completed.  The cut out foam (or wood) solution seems handy.  I'll give it more some more thought and also see if others have experiences to share.

[ndbprr]

Depends if the track is curving or not.  For straight track when I had tunnels I took a couple of pieces of pine and cut out a tunnel portal sized hole in them.  then flipped them over and screwed a 1 x 2 between them on both edges.  next step was the old soupy plaster paper towell allowed to drape in the mold.  Scraped off after after drying it was bench painted and set in place.  For curved tracks I used little blocks of styrofoam glued in place and draped soupy plaster towells over the styrofoam and painted them in place.

[Geared Steam]

WS makes a tunnel portal mold designed to use with your WS portals. Let me find a link.....

http://www.woodlandscenics.com/items.htm/TunnelPortals#C1250

[mrnimble]

Second question (the previous post was mine also):  what is a good method of modeling the first few inches inside of a tunnel (am using WS portals) so it will fade to darkness quickly for the viewer.  I'm not looking for any fancy rock outcroppings, etc., but just a simple smooth wall on back into the mountain.  None of my portals can be viewed into directly from the front, but most  are seen at about a 30 - 60 degree angle.  Thanks.