Model realistic Tunnel Portals

[martin t]

Tunnel portals are important scenery details, which most often is bought as a standard item ready made. Then just as often the portal will be somewhat misplaced, unless you´re modelling exactly the region from where the prototype portal has been taken. This video presents methods and materials needed to make any type of stone arch tunnel portal to fit the scenery you model. 

Link to the video tutorial (Youtube): https://youtu.be/gVnoHbfxOWk

[the Bach-man]

Thanks, Martin!
Love your videos!
the Bach-man

[jward]

One "flaw" I've noticed in many commercial portals is that they are too tall, designed to clear modern equipment. Running older trains through these giant portals doesn't look right to me so I usually lower the height to just clear my tallest car, an Athearn 40 foot hi cube boxcar.

There are two ways to do this. The easiest is to simply trim a couple of scale feet off the bottom of the portal, The other way takes a lot more work but doesn't permanently alter the portal. My track is laid on pine board that is often narrower than the portal itself. This makes it easy to add a bracket to the underside of the roadbed to support the portal, then shim the portal to the correct height. In doing so I add a  support brace to the back of the portal that it rests against. This makes the portal itself fully and easily removable for scenery work. When finished, the portal itself fits into a slot in the scenery and can be removed easily whenever necessary, such as removing derailed cars from the tunnel.


The end result recreates a once common scene in the east where trains slip out of tunnels with barely enough clearance to fit.

[martin t]

Thanks, Martin!
Love your videos!
the Bach-man

Thank you Bach man! Good to hear you like them.

Regards / Martin

[martin t]

One "flaw" I've noticed in many commercial portals is that they are too tall, designed to clear modern equipment. Running older trains through these giant portals doesn't look right to me so I usually lower the height to just clear my tallest car, an Athearn 40 foot hi cube boxcar.

There are two ways to do this. The easiest is to simply trim a couple of scale feet off the bottom of the portal, The other way takes a lot more work but doesn't permanently alter the portal. My track is laid on pine board that is often narrower than the portal itself. This makes it easy to add a bracket to the underside of the roadbed to support the portal, then shim the portal to the correct height. In doing so I add a  support brace to the back of the portal that it rests against. This makes the portal itself fully and easily removable for scenery work. When finished, the portal itself fits into a slot in the scenery and can be removed easily whenever necessary, such as removing derailed cars from the tunnel.


The end result recreates a once common scene in the east where trains slip out of tunnels with barely enough clearance to fit.

Hi!

Yes, I agree to that! I also really like tunnel portals with a minimum of clearance!  It looks great! I have a mountain branch line, which has portals like that. One problem I´ve encountered is when friends bring rolling stock over for the sessions, these might not go through those portals. Somethimes it´s also an issue when running automatic trains using PC-control. It limits somewhat the access to those tracks.

Thank you for commenting! All the best from a snowy and cooold Sweden.


Regards / Martin

[Joe323]

Tunnel,  clearance could be an issue on a modern pike.  Think NYC Penn  Station

[Trainman203]

When you do a tunnel...... don't forget the "tell-tale."


https://www.american-rails.com/tell-tales.html

[jward]

Tell tales were mostly gone by the 1970s. I'd be much more likely to have the telegraph pole line that cuts over the mountain above the tunnel. Up until the 1980s, most lines had them, unless they were short lines. Even branchlines had them, with phone booths placed at strategic points. In the days before radio, they were the only means of communication trains had with the dispatcher.
Alot of modellers don't include these lines.

[Trainman203]

Remember the tunnel scene in the 1990 movie "Narrow Margin?"  No tell tale there 😱😂😂.