I'm planning a tunnel for my railway. I want to make the tunnel big enough for any trains I may buy in the future. What should the inside dimensions of my tunnel be?
I plan on building a box form out of 2"x12" lumber and placing styrofoam in the box to serve as the tunnel. I also plan on cutting out a brick pattern out of some 1/16" thick acrylic sheet using a laser cutter to create a brick pattern on the outside of both ends. I may use chicken wire to add strength to the concrete.
LGB offered a templarte in one of their publications. It has all of the info you need as it was oversize.
Build the interior of the tunnel as large as possible, and let the portal itself fool the eye into thinking it's smaller. This way, if you should acquire a piece of equipment that stretches the capacity of the tunnel, you need only replace the portal, not the entire structure.
Having said that, I'd plan on a portal with a vertical clearance of no lower than 10", and a side-to-side clearance of no narrower than 7". That should accommodate almost everything that's on the market right now.
Later,
K
Unless it is a curved tunnel.
Good one Kevin - that 10" portal should even accommodate the anticipated motive power. Who knows - that might even allow passage of an EBT 16? :)
Charlie
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