Mirror in Tunnel?

[Bre2tSco2t]

I was reading a recent MR and one of the articles mentioned using a mirror in a tunnel. I ASSUME that this was to make the tunnel appear longer. On my layout the two tracks enter a tunnel portal then turn left. After reading about this mirror deal, I wonder if I could put a mirror in this tunnel to make it appear that the tracks go straight rather than turnning. Has anyone here used a mirror in a tunnel for any affect? Thanks in Advance.[8D]

[pcarrell]

I think you could do that but my question is,...if you can see the mirror inside the tunnel your face would have to be looking almost directly at it and you are going to see your own reflection then, aren't you? If you mount the mirror at an angle so that this doesn't happen then it ruins the illusion because you see a sudden, sharp bend in the tunnel and train tunnels don't usually do that.

I don't know, what do you think?

[NZRMac]

I've seen those articles too, my question if there's a mirror in the tunnel reflecting your tracks back out again ( has too be directly out again or the tracks appear suddenly bent as above P.Carrell) then there's a mirror in the way for a train?

The MR article was a non tunnel, the tracks didn't go anywhere.

Ken.

[Bre2tSco2t]

I agree with both of you (pcarrell and NZRMac) the mirror would have to be angled just right. I friend and I was discussing this and he claim to have seen one used on a wall where a siding dead ended. He said it was a perfect illusion that the siding continued on for a while. Of course if he got down and looked at it stright, he could see his face. Or if a train tried to back down the siding would hit the mirror/wall. Being in a tunnel, I would *THINK* it be easier to create the illusion of tracks continuing stright because it is darker and really limited sight area. I believe we are going to try it and see what happens, but at this time that is still a few months away. I believe the MR I read this was Jan 05. The author had two towns separted by a mountain with a tunnel and the mirror made it appear that the other town was much further down the line.

[Sperandeo]

I don't recall that we said anything in MR about a mirror in a tunnel, but we could have. The late John Armstrong had a very effective way of making a curved tunnel look straight on his O scale Canandaigua Southern layout, and it didn't even involve a mirror, just a hole and a piece of paper.

The tunnel was right at the front edge of his layout with the portal close to eye level, so it was easy to look into it. The tunnel curved around the end of a layout peninsula inside the layout fascia.

At a point in line with the actual tunnel portal he had cut a portal-shaped hole in the fascia, a good bit smaller than O scale size, and covered the opening with tracing paper. When you looked into the actual portal you could see light coming through the translucent paper, apparently from the other end of a straight tunnel. Of course, when a train was entering or leaving the tunnel it blocked your view, so you couldn't see either the fake portal or the train curving inside.

The effect of the "light at the end of the tunnel" was very believable, even though you knew the tunnel had to curve or the track would thrust out across the layout's narrow aisle. I don't recall John mentioning this trick in any of his books or articles, but I haven't checked to make sure.

So long,

Andy

[pcarrell]

UH OH!!! The big boys have come out to play!!!

Who woke the giant?! [:D]

Actually thats very intersting,...and sneaky! I like it!

Thanks Mr. Sperandeo

[Bre2tSco2t]

Sperandeo that is a way cool idea and much eaiser to understand and do than mirrors. We are going to use this one. It is perfect for what we want to accomplish. Thank you very much.

[BRJN]

I would not put a mirror into a tunnel unless the track was a dud and the tunnel was actually for practice with scenery techniques. A shallow tunnel that actually runs into a wall could have a mirror in it to look like it continues 'through' the mountain an on to the world beyond. The whole setup would have to be on a slope and be viewed from an angle to work, though.

Another possibility would be a tunnel that you can see from only one side, with the mirror reflecting the scenery on the other side of the bore. This allows space saving and a hidden track (hidden staging?) right behind the tunnel. But if you are THAT tight for space... [:0]

[SpaceMouse]

I remember the article, but it was placed at the end of a short spur to make it look like the spur continued. There were a couple boxcars that helped with the illusion.