Switches in Tunnels

Is it possible to cut an access hole so you could reach the switches from below?

Lancer,

    Long ago at the Boys club we had a big mountain on our 2nd level with a lift off top,

it actually took 2 boys to lift it off, if we had a switch derailment inside the mountain.  Way cool stuff if you engineer it correctly.  Whether you go from the bottom top or side you must have access if you intend to cover up your switches, sooner or later you will have a problem inside.

PCRR/Dave

My old layout had a 4x4 foot tunnel with no access hole. Go figure, one day, the track started disassembling itself in the tunnel. That taught a good lesson - always have an access hole. You'll be sorry. I speak from experience. 

Well, a switch inside a tunnel really isn't a good idea.

Am I doing it?  Funny you should ask.  Yes, I will have one.

And I am worried about it.  So far, the switch has functioned well.  Of course, it's not covered yet.  There isn't room for an access hatch.

George

It's an unwritten rule. If you build a tunnel with switches inside and no access, that will be the only place on your layout that things will ever go wrong. Access is a must, but at least you will be confining your areas of problems to one location.

Actually, any place without access will cause problems.  Don't ask me how I know.

George

Location Location Location!!!

A switches at some time will require maintenance and are usually the point of most derailment. If you have access go for it. Also why cant you make the mountain as a free standing piece of scenery that you can lift out of place when needed and returned. Its been done before.

Enjoy the journey

Like they say, you gotta have access.  

I have switches under two of my mountains/hills.  Not really inside a "tunnel" because once a train goes into the porta more than about eight inches, there are no walls to the tunnel and thespace is about three feet of more wide.  In both cases, I can crawl under the layout and reach the switches if any need to fix it.  Perhaps because I have, I have never needed to do that: it would be annoying byt could be done. 

Lance,  wow, you have got a lot of energy, coming along.  Make you a ceiling on your

tunnel level, and place some LED'S, kinda like the coal tunnels, and then get you a

24" inch handicap grabber (Smith & Nephew Rolyan manf).  I cant access mine from the back but with my grabber I can put it inside and go all the way over to the other portal. Yes it has decreased the anxiety, when that engine doesn't come out the other end.

I had a similar situation. The engine went "crazy" and took off like a shot and of course derailed in a tunnel with very difficult access. Had to use a very flexible fishing pole with hook and a mini TV camera to see what I was doing to hook the engine & cars and pull them out. NEVER AGAIN. I WOULD NOT DO THIS IN A MILLION YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Steve, when this happened, I thought that I was sunk. The area was 7 ft. away and the engine and four passenger cars were caught in a curved tunnel five feet wide. The fishing pole flexed enough to work it's way around the tunnel and I was able to hook onto the engine and pull it out. Without the TV camera with spot light, I could not have done it.

After that, no more inaccessible areas on the layout.

Sorry to be a gloomy Gus here, but generally speaking, having turnouts in a tunnel is a recipe for a "pain in the rear".

If your turnouts precisely mounted and operating perfectly, your cars properly weighted (light cars bounce and can derail), and don't run too fast, you'll reduce problems. That said, you'll need quick and easy access for maintenance and cleaning or if there's a problem.

I can't see the front of your bench work, so I suspect you'll have a reach problem for both removing the cover and accessing the track. The buildings complicate things. What would help here is if the bench work was cut away so you could access the track from underneath (of course that also means that if there's a bad derailment something could fall through).

In summary, the four things to remember with turnouts:

1. Good mounting - make sure everything is in the same plane.
2. Reliable operation -- points make solid contact with stock rails and move freely. Use good machines.
3. Good rolling stock -- not too light or it will bounce.
4. Easy access -- maintenance, cleaning, and fixing mishaps.

How about putting one or two buildings on a separate base that would cover an access hole. If you do that now, you may never have to use it.

This may sound silly, but make sure your access hole is big enough to be worthwhile too. I made mine to fit the space, and I can just barely fit through it (and only up to my chest, if my arms go through first).

If this were me, I would make the access from above with the mountain (lift off)

Generally having any switch where you can't easily reach it is going to be a problem.  It appears to me that those switches are pretty far from the front of your layout and that reaching them is already difficult.  Having buildings in front of them is also a problem.

I would recommend that you consider a redesign to eliminate the switches in those areas.  Do you really need a crossover in the back?  Can it be moved to the front or someplace where it is more accessible?  Do you really need a siding or a track to connect to the main at the single switch point?  

You can usually find a solution to these problems by taking a fresh look at your track plan.  Sometimes the best solution is to just eliminate the potential problem and not have a crossover, etc.  

I notice that this post is on the scenery forum.  This isn't so much a scenery issue as a design issue.  You may want to post your track plan on the layout design forum for some input.

Good Luck,   Joe 

Maybe you want to consider moving (or changing) the switches to turnout of the curved track instead of the straight track?

I echo the sentiments that I would not put switches inside of a tunnel, unless I had adequate access to the tunnel.  Aside from clearing possible derailments, you might need to also occasionally lubricate the switch motor.

Jim

I would add an access hole under your buildings so you cold get back there and then engineer an access into your mountain. Eric from Eric's Trains did a couple of videos on access panels. If done right, people cannot tell they are there. I believe Eric built one of his using pink Styrofoam for both the sleeve and the plug so one slid inside the other and matched the ground cover to cover the seams.