Looking for ideas here......getting ready to build tunnels on my 4' X 8' n-scale layout.
Not sure what to use for the actual tunnel lining that will offer a semi-realistic look.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Welcome to the forum,
For my N scale tunnels I use pink foam carved inside to look like rock and painted dark brown. If the tunnel is on a curve I lay the track then use an 85 foot (6 inches in N scale) passenger car and make sure I have at least 1/2 inch clearance everywhere in the tunnel. After gluing I use toothpicks to hold the foam in place. If your tunnel is long and you can't reach in you will want to leave an access hatch, just in case there is a derailment,
Happy railroading,
Bob
Modeling in N scale: Rock Island freight and passenger, with a touch of the following; Wabash Cannon Ball, CB&Q passenger, and ATSF freight and passenger. I played in Peoria (Heights).
I was thinking about using the pink foam, but wasn't sure how to carve the stuff out for a tunnel.
Were you referring to the foam 'stacked' top to bottom, or pieces of foam attached side-to-side?
Thanks Bob
Danny,
First I glue a sheet of foam to the plywood. Check to make sure you remove the thin almost invisible plastic sheet on the foam before gluing! Then I stack the smaller cut sheets horizontally (flat). I use 1/2 inch foam primarily. Cuts well with a carpet knife. I also use 2 inch thick foam, scraps from a construction site. Make a cut and then snap it. For contouring I use a Stanley Surform Cutter I got from Hope Depot. Kind of a like cheese grater section with a yellow handle. Some people prefer a hot knife but I really can't ventilate the room to my satisfaction to clear the fumes. I also have a dirt devil vacuum cleaner to clean up the foam shavings. Avoid the white bead foam! It is messy and full of static. Always use pink or blue foam. It is kind of messy but vacuum frequently and you'll be fine.
After gluing I paint with an acrylic (water based) paint. If you are in doubt about your paint try it on a small piece of foam first. Some enamel paints and some glues eat up the foam. I got my brown paint really cheap from a can someone brought back to Home Depot. Look around near the mixing area for a suitable earth color. The vertical outside edges were painted flat black to hide the foam strata levels. Outside my tunnel is painted a sandstone color with a thin brown wash. I was fortunate enough to get pictures of the Rock Island RR tunnel in central Illinois when I visited in 2006.
Hope this helps,
These are my subway tunnel walls, before the top was put on:
There were a few considerations that may not apply to you. First, I have a video camera in the front of the train, so I wanted all of the tunnels to be completely scenicked, inside and out. The camera needs light, so I made the tunnel walls uncharacteristically light in color, along with the roof, and I provided lighting on the interior (left) wall which can be seen as a LED sticking through the wall. These are subways, so I added catwalks and conduits. The surface layer is very close, with trains in it, too, so I had to make a single-piece, very thin roof section that's removeable in most areas for access.
Access is important. A bit off-topic, but as long as we're talking about tunnels, you should be able to get to all your trackwork. Even if you never have a derailment in there (yeah, right) you will still need to clean the track occasionally.
I literally spent weeks trying to figure out how to make these walls. One night, I was lying in bed looking at the ceiling, and there was the answer. I mixed up some thin hydrocal and used a paint roller to apply it to strips of styrene, just like a textured ceiling. The strips remained flexible enough to bend around an 18-inch curve, and I was able to fabricate and spray paint them outside, so I didn't end up with a smelly mess on my layout.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
The easiest thing to do is use something like brick paper. Use a pattern that you like whether stone, block, or brick. Glue it on a piece of poster board. Cut the poster board piece so it will look like the sides. Just a rectangle so you can bend it on a curve if you have to. You don't need a top. Use something to brace it up on the outside. Foam blocks will do. Using hot glue is fast and will last as long as your layout. You probably only need to line 6 to 8 inches from the back of the portal because that is usually all you will be able to see.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
Hi: Danny, why not go for a realistic look. WS makes a form for tunnel liners using Hydrocal Lite.
Thanks for all the help!!
On the Western Maryland, the tunnels were lined with timbers. The somewhat softer rock of the Alleghenies tended to crumble, so the lining helped protect open cargos and engines (and crews). They were big 12x12 timbers, built in an arch about 8' on center, with planking to create a "roof" that enclosed the upper reaches of the frames...
Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
Just read an article by Mike Danneman on how he constructed his Flatirons section of his Rio Grande layout. For his seven tunnels, he used Sculptamold dyed black applied to the foam linings of the tunnels. Impressive results if you have seen pictures. Jamie
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