Looking for good advice on building a mountain later in the fall. Tracks already laid so looking for good suggestions for a tunnel on a curve.
Posted by scott whitfield (Member # 56) on :
Wow is anyone here? Or just not interested in tunnel building? Don 't want to share secrets? Or just out of town? Or lurking?
Posted by gwschreyer (Member # 9) on :
Scott, not many people hang here...
The best way to build a tunnel is to make it a non-tunnel. Daylight it if you can and use only portals.
If you really have to have a tunnel, don't make it longer than you can reach with your arm.
GWS, Thanks for the reply. Since I was going to build on the corner of the layout, I thought I'd leave the back side partially open or at least accessible for those ever occuring derailments.
Scott Whitfield
Posted by NVTiny (Member # 45) on :
Scott: I don't read this forum much.. maybe I should hehe George gave good advice! Access is most important! I have two tunnels on my DS&RG, and I kept them short for access to derails inside. Since you are planning to use a cornor, just build the mountain high enough so the train is hidden and it looks like it goes through the mountain. Putting the portals in the right place will give the idea of the tunnel.
------------------ NVTiny Desert Springs & Rattler Gap Railroad <a href="http://www.trainweb.org/dsrg/dsrg.htm">
Posted by Jim Petropulos (Member # 972) on :
There was a good article in one of the recent Garden Railway issues on building a tunnel.
I would also suggest fitting a screen or other type of "gate" at each end when not running trains to keep out spiders, snails (that will cause a derail for sure, I had one once at nighttime). Depending where you live and the critters that reside there.