Help finishing tunnel

Babajaga, could you first use foam layers to fill in the circle area leading down from the mountain toward the center of the track circles (toward the foreground in the pictures).  Then the gap to fill would be much smaller and you could shape how far the mountain slope will proceed.

It is not clear to me where a bump and go trolley would fit into the terrain.   It looks like there will be tunnel portals an each side.

Just use foam like you did on top, 

clem k posted:

Just use foam like you did on top, 

Like Clem said, stack the foam into layers and glue it. For a steeper slope or rock face, place the edges of the layers closer together. Then, cut and gouge the rock face.

here's a sample of what a professional builder does

You can also see some mountain carving by some pros in this layout thread

 

For an inside curve this method may be an alternative. 

 

If you want to model a blasted cliff face, nothing beats the tried-and-true method of stacking broken pieces of ceiling tiles edgewise.

Ok foam it is, sounds easy enough. Since I want to leave as much possible space as I can in that circle area to place a farm scene instead of stacking foam I'm thinking of just bending in one large piece of thinner foam and maybe gluing some molded rock formations to the vertical cliff face.

Although I really like the broken ceiling tile look, I might try to first replicate that with the foam that I have because my wife got a bunch for free from work. Hopefully I can more or less cut them to a minimal width so the slope won't be very steep and take up too much space at the bottom, if that makes sense.

Well I'm in the last few stages of completing my tunnel and I was just wondering, before I glue some things down would any of you be able to give me an idea of the amount of overhang there would be from a 17" Railking diesel and 60' baby Madison passenger cars on a 0-36 curve?

Would the diesel and passenger cars overhang past the roadbed of the fastrack? I'm thinking I might have to cut a little more off some foam but I want to make sure it's absolutely necessary before I go hacking at it again. If it's not too much trouble maybe someone has a picture they could share if they run these items on 0-36? Thanks

Never, ever finish your landscaping before running your largest trains around every bit of track. There are ALWAYS clearance issues.

You bet. Sometimes it can be quite dramatic and difficult to fix once all the plaster is in place (experience is a heck of a teacher, ain't it?). Even when I thought I had all the clearances figured out, I didn't.

Trainman2001 posted:

You bet. Sometimes it can be quite dramatic and difficult to fix once all the plaster is in place (experience is a heck of a teacher, ain't it?). Even when I thought I had all the clearances figured out, I didn't.

I'm not going to be using plaster on my build, just paint over foam. Hopefully it turns out ok. I've read some people using flex paste over foam but at $20 for a bottle it would get pretty expensive.

 

15" madisons do not overhang the roadbed. The end that is cut-off at the top of the photo is too close. Follow the track roadbed outline and reshape that end.

Also, Diesel pilots will hit that end.

Most make a clearance car from an old flat car with a horizontal and vertical piece of wood to gauge clearance for the trains that you own.

Moonman posted:

15" madisons do not overhang the roadbed. The end that is cut-off at the top of the photo is too close. Follow the track roadbed outline and reshape that end.

Also, Diesel pilots will hit that end.

Most make a clearance car from an old flat car with a horizontal and vertical piece of wood to gauge clearance for the trains that you own.

Great, thanks. If you can see on that picture I have a black line drawn on the pink foam, do you think cutting that of will be sufficient clearance?

That's a good idea with the flatcar. I was wondering how people gauge for clearance because buying every single loco and piece of rolling stock immediately would really break the bank.

At most I guess I can wait until I buy a bigger diesel before I finish, but right I've got the Lionel gold mine set on pre order so it'll be a while before I get myself another train.

Babajaga posted:

Moonman posted:

15" madisons do not overhang the roadbed. The end that is cut-off at the top of the photo is too close. Follow the track roadbed outline and reshape that end.

Also, Diesel pilots will hit that end.

Most make a clearance car from an old flat car with a horizontal and vertical piece of wood to gauge clearance for the trains that you own.

Great, thanks. If you can see on that picture I have a black line drawn on the pink foam, do you think cutting that of will be sufficient clearance?

That's a good idea with the flatcar. I was wondering how people gauge for clearance because buying every single loco and piece of rolling stock immediately would really break the bank.

No, I don't think the line will work. The best that I can tell from the photo is that it looks like an O60 curve next to an O36 curve. Lay a piece of O36 on top and you'll see that the arc is to large or flat towards the point that is cut-off of the photo.

Or, that end of the mountain needs to be moved away from the edge of roadbed and adjust the length on the other end.

Moonman posted:

Babajaga posted:

Moonman posted:

15" madisons do not overhang the roadbed. The end that is cut-off at the top of the photo is too close. Follow the track roadbed outline and reshape that end.

Also, Diesel pilots will hit that end.

Most make a clearance car from an old flat car with a horizontal and vertical piece of wood to gauge clearance for the trains that you own.

Great, thanks. If you can see on that picture I have a black line drawn on the pink foam, do you think cutting that of will be sufficient clearance?

That's a good idea with the flatcar. I was wondering how people gauge for clearance because buying every single loco and piece of rolling stock immediately would really break the bank.

No, I don't think the line will work. The best that I can tell from the photo is that it looks like an O60 curve next to an O36 curve. Lay a piece of O36 on top and you'll see that the arc is to large or flat towards the point that is cut-off of the photo.

Or, that end of the mountain needs to be moved away from the edge of roadbed and adjust the length on the other end.

Ok I get what you're saying, thanks. I'll adjust it some more although the point that is cut off at the photo is where the track straightens out a bit and meets with the tunnel portal. So if it won't clear that part up there then the tunnel portal won't work either. But I'll cut as much off when I get home and hopefully the foam still stacks nicely.

Babajaga posted:

Moonman posted:

Babajaga posted:

Moonman posted:

15" madisons do not overhang the roadbed. The end that is cut-off at the top of the photo is too close. Follow the track roadbed outline and reshape that end.

Also, Diesel pilots will hit that end.

Most make a clearance car from an old flat car with a horizontal and vertical piece of wood to gauge clearance for the trains that you own.

Great, thanks. If you can see on that picture I have a black line drawn on the pink foam, do you think cutting that of will be sufficient clearance?

That's a good idea with the flatcar. I was wondering how people gauge for clearance because buying every single loco and piece of rolling stock immediately would really break the bank.

No, I don't think the line will work. The best that I can tell from the photo is that it looks like an O60 curve next to an O36 curve. Lay a piece of O36 on top and you'll see that the arc is to large or flat towards the point that is cut-off of the photo.

Or, that end of the mountain needs to be moved away from the edge of roadbed and adjust the length on the other end.

Ok I get what you're saying, thanks. I'll adjust it some more although the point that is cut off at the photo is where the track straightens out a bit and meets with the tunnel portal. So if it won't clear that part up there then the tunnel portal won't work either. 

You could also carve out only the bottom 5" vertically if you need that shape to match the top. That would leave a small cliff overhang.

It is a cliff and would be perfectly flat or smooth.

Moonman posted:

Babajaga posted:

Moonman posted:

Babajaga posted:

Moonman posted:

15" madisons do not overhang the roadbed. The end that is cut-off at the top of the photo is too close. Follow the track roadbed outline and reshape that end.

Also, Diesel pilots will hit that end.

Most make a clearance car from an old flat car with a horizontal and vertical piece of wood to gauge clearance for the trains that you own.

Great, thanks. If you can see on that picture I have a black line drawn on the pink foam, do you think cutting that of will be sufficient clearance?

That's a good idea with the flatcar. I was wondering how people gauge for clearance because buying every single loco and piece of rolling stock immediately would really break the bank.

No, I don't think the line will work. The best that I can tell from the photo is that it looks like an O60 curve next to an O36 curve. Lay a piece of O36 on top and you'll see that the arc is to large or flat towards the point that is cut-off of the photo.

Or, that end of the mountain needs to be moved away from the edge of roadbed and adjust the length on the other end.

Ok I get what you're saying, thanks. I'll adjust it some more although the point that is cut off at the photo is where the track straightens out a bit and meets with the tunnel portal. So if it won't clear that part up there then the tunnel portal won't work either. 

You could also carve out only the bottom 5" vertically if you need that shape to match the top. That would leave a small cliff overhang.

It is a cliff and would be perfectly flat or smooth.

I'll take another pic when I get home from a better angle but that mountain side is made of  three 2 inch foam boards stacked on top. I can probably get away with cutting the bottom two boards further away from the track and just leaving the very top foam piece overhanging the bottom 2 pieces of foam, if you know what I mean. I don't think the trains would be high enough to hit that top most board.

Measure twice cut once.....All of the above advice is sound. Take it from the guy with the lopsided tunnel portal. Watch the roof overhangs on steamers on the outside of the curve too.  If you don't want to loose too much space at the base of the cliff, printed scenery works nicely too.

 

 

Babajaga posted:

Moonman posted:

Babajaga posted:

Moonman posted:

Babajaga posted:

Moonman posted:

15" madisons do not overhang the roadbed. The end that is cut-off at the top of the photo is too close. Follow the track roadbed outline and reshape that end.

Also, Diesel pilots will hit that end.

Most make a clearance car from an old flat car with a horizontal and vertical piece of wood to gauge clearance for the trains that you own.

Great, thanks. If you can see on that picture I have a black line drawn on the pink foam, do you think cutting that of will be sufficient clearance?

That's a good idea with the flatcar. I was wondering how people gauge for clearance because buying every single loco and piece of rolling stock immediately would really break the bank.

No, I don't think the line will work. The best that I can tell from the photo is that it looks like an O60 curve next to an O36 curve. Lay a piece of O36 on top and you'll see that the arc is to large or flat towards the point that is cut-off of the photo.

Or, that end of the mountain needs to be moved away from the edge of roadbed and adjust the length on the other end.

Ok I get what you're saying, thanks. I'll adjust it some more although the point that is cut off at the photo is where the track straightens out a bit and meets with the tunnel portal. So if it won't clear that part up there then the tunnel portal won't work either. 

You could also carve out only the bottom 5" vertically if you need that shape to match the top. That would leave a small cliff overhang.

It is a cliff and would be perfectly flat or smooth.

I'll take another pic when I get home from a better angle but that mountain side is made of  three 2 inch foam boards stacked on top. I can probably get away with cutting the bottom two boards further away from the track and just leaving the very top foam piece overhanging the bottom 2 pieces of foam, if you know what I mean. I don't think the trains would be high enough to hit that top most board.

yeah, meant to say the cliff "would NOT be perfectly flat" . You have the idea - make the clearance however it will work for you.

RSJB18 posted:

Measure twice cut once.....All of the above advice is sound. Take it from the guy with the lopsided tunnel portal. Watch the roof overhangs on steamers on the outside of the curve too.  If you don't want to loose too much space at the base of the cliff, printed scenery works nicely too.

 

 

That's another thing I'm working on too. I actually made the tunnel portals not embedded in the mountain and are lightly tacked on with glue to the plywood base so that I can rip them out and re-cut or move from side to side for clearance if need be. 

 

Best way to check for over hang in a tunnel area is before you make it run the largest engine and car you have around it and mark the area every few inches. Then build leaving about another 1" - 1 1/2" clearance ( inside and out) beyond that for safety . ( in case you get something a little bigger.

Ok so far this is what I have. I'm hoping the tunnel openings are wide enough but who knows. I won't finish it until some day I get the biggest diesel that I would like to have. The part I'm worried about is the right most side of the double tunnel portal, it's pretty close to the track, it may need modification in the future but hopefully not. 

Looks like it will work - the only possible issue that I see is the corner of the support wood on the third photo near the side of the roadbed. Perhaps a quick filing to knock the point off of the corner.

Nice work!

Moonman posted:

Looks like it will work - the only possible issue that I see is the corner of the support wood on the third photo near the side of the roadbed. Perhaps a quick filing to knock the point off of the corner.

Nice work!

Thanks, I'll go ahead and file that down.