HOexplorer
Well-Known Member
Tunnels, my thoughts.
Tunnels, like getting old, is basically 'can't live with them, can't live without them.' Model railroading tunnels have captured our imagination whether we like it or not. From our earliest exposure to model railroading we've always needed something like this:
If you are, or will be, reading this you've probably grown beyond this photo and I thought I would provide some simple, but often overlooked tunnel issues. If like the Southern Division, now on these pages, in a room with walls, you have two or more logical/good places for tunnels. Namely the corners of your layout. You can't reach that far for operations and these corners give you the perfect reason to put in a tunnel or two. Remember the first PCM&T Co. layout had no tunnels in the corners, but did have one along a wall, and one tunnel built after the original scenery was in place.
So what's with tunnels anyway? Well, real railroads have them, therefore so must we. Not all logical but it is a good reason. Tunnels shorten track routes in real life, if not so much in our modeling. Simply put, I think tunnels are cool. Seeing a train disappear and reappear is generally an important, if not exciting, part of our layouts. Of course, we should all follow a few easy and time-tested steps.
As mentioned tunnels are a natural in our corners for room-sized layouts and even giant "if I had a million" layouts where tunnels will and can appear most anywhere. First thing to do is figure out how long you want your tunnel to be. No magic formulas, but I like corner tunnels long enough to have the train actually disappear then come out the other side. On my layout this is problematic because of room size. Luckly I run short trains and can almost achieve my 'disappearing' goal. Ultimately we have to model the best we can in the space we have.
Second is to make sure you can access the tunnel. The inside curve is a natural for leaving open as no one can see the inside. Third, don't forget to lay your track before you enclose the tunnel.
Next, most everything in the tunnel should be painted black. There will always be someone trying to peak inside your tunnel don't skip the black paint.
Folks are curious about ballasting in the tunnel. I layout cardboard over the tunnel area and see where 'dark' is. You then know how far in to ballast your track. I don't like to ballast where folks can't see because during cleaning and possible retrieving derailed rolling stock ballast can be knocked loose causing problems. End Part One
Tunnels, like getting old, is basically 'can't live with them, can't live without them.' Model railroading tunnels have captured our imagination whether we like it or not. From our earliest exposure to model railroading we've always needed something like this:
If you are, or will be, reading this you've probably grown beyond this photo and I thought I would provide some simple, but often overlooked tunnel issues. If like the Southern Division, now on these pages, in a room with walls, you have two or more logical/good places for tunnels. Namely the corners of your layout. You can't reach that far for operations and these corners give you the perfect reason to put in a tunnel or two. Remember the first PCM&T Co. layout had no tunnels in the corners, but did have one along a wall, and one tunnel built after the original scenery was in place.
So what's with tunnels anyway? Well, real railroads have them, therefore so must we. Not all logical but it is a good reason. Tunnels shorten track routes in real life, if not so much in our modeling. Simply put, I think tunnels are cool. Seeing a train disappear and reappear is generally an important, if not exciting, part of our layouts. Of course, we should all follow a few easy and time-tested steps.
As mentioned tunnels are a natural in our corners for room-sized layouts and even giant "if I had a million" layouts where tunnels will and can appear most anywhere. First thing to do is figure out how long you want your tunnel to be. No magic formulas, but I like corner tunnels long enough to have the train actually disappear then come out the other side. On my layout this is problematic because of room size. Luckly I run short trains and can almost achieve my 'disappearing' goal. Ultimately we have to model the best we can in the space we have.
Second is to make sure you can access the tunnel. The inside curve is a natural for leaving open as no one can see the inside. Third, don't forget to lay your track before you enclose the tunnel.
Next, most everything in the tunnel should be painted black. There will always be someone trying to peak inside your tunnel don't skip the black paint.
Folks are curious about ballasting in the tunnel. I layout cardboard over the tunnel area and see where 'dark' is. You then know how far in to ballast your track. I don't like to ballast where folks can't see because during cleaning and possible retrieving derailed rolling stock ballast can be knocked loose causing problems. End Part One
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