CONSTRUCTION ZONE AHEAD

I have a triple track main going around my layout, and I decided I wanted to put a tunnel in. Now, a tunnel for a section of triple track is not very prototypical. I have only been able to find one real-life instance, but being prototypical isn't a big deal for me. So, construction on the tunnel portal began!

Always wear protection when working on construction.

I used a ¼in. thick piece of white foam from the hobby store, a pencil, a ruler, piece of card stock paper, kids safety scissors, a penny and dime, and my hot wire cutter for the first step. I began by measuring out the width and height I would need the portal to be. Using that, I began a rough draft, approximately 5in. x 1¾in. and 4½in. x 1¾in. for the inner walls. To get a rounded edge connecting the inner walls with the ceiling, I used a penny for the one portal and a dime for the other.

At a slight angle, I drew a line with the ruler to make the center of the portal slightly elevated. The outside walls had a thickness of ½in. and the total height was 2½in. The safety scissors were used to cut out the guide because their size made it easy to control going around the curved edges. Once one was cut out, I traced around to get a pair.

Taking the pairs, I pinned them into the foam one on each side. I eyeballed it to line up the edges. Once they were good to go, I took my wire cutter and began to cut on the inside first and then on the outside. I did a rough cut on the outside portion and cleaned it up on a second pass. So far they look very good!

Subscribe if you want to follow along with the construction!