Easy Tunnel Liners

I started my scenery construction by putting in some rough terrain forms to determine where I wanted my tunnel portals to be located.

This particular tunnel needed a liner about 2' long, over 2 curves and a short straight section on an uphill grade. It also needed to be removable for future track maintenance if needed.

On my last layout I made my tunnel liners out of plaster using the Woodland Scenics tunnel mold. That worked fine for short liners, but for long liners was really a pain! This time around I wanted to come up with an easier way to make tunnel liners, and found something that proved to work like a charm.

To start I made a pattern with a cut out that was 3/8" bigger than the opening in my tunnel portal.

I then took some 1" foam I had lying around and cut it into 4'x5.25" sections which I'll call blanks. The pattern was put over these blanks as shown, then the tunnel liner opening traced on them.

The openings were cut out with a saber saw. Here's some of the blanks that are now ready to be used.

I glued one of the end tunnel portals in place, and put a foam blank next to it. Because the tunnel liner needed to be removable, I did not glue this first tunnel liner blank to the portal.

Succeeding blanks were glued to the first blank using Tacky Glue which I got at a craft store. To work around the corner I used cardboard spacers on the outside of the tunnel liner blanks to keep the blanks perpendicular to the track. You can see those spacers on the left side of the blank in the next picture. I also found that if you only put a bead of glue half way down on the blank on the inside of the turn, you get much less glue running out the bottom of the blank onto the sub-roadbed which the tunnel liner sits on.

After a few tunnel blanks were glued together here's what things looked like. Those tunnel blanks marked with an "R" are over a straight section of track, and are not glued to the blanks to the right or left. That enables me to remove those blanks first, then remove the other two remaining sections of the tunnel liner for track maintenance later on.

Occasionally I would look into the progressing tunnel liner just to make sure things were lining up correctly. You can barely see it in the picture below, but to the right side of the track I had a penciled guide line on the roadbed to help correct placement of the blanks as they were being glued together. You'll notice I also painted the sub-roadbed flat black to aid in the appearance of the tunnel later on.

I kept adding blanks until I got to the end of the tunnel where the other tunnel portal was to be installed, and then let things sit overnight until the glue on the blanks had dried. Here's what it looked like inside from one end.

Here's looking at the outside.

After the glue had dried the 3 separate tunnel liner sections were removed from the layout and turned upside down.

I ran a bead of glue along the inside of each tunnel liner blank, and added another bead of glue around the bottom of the liner blanks on both sides of the track, and around the tunnel opening of the end blanks of each section. 

The next step was to take some tin foil and lightly crumple it. I then slowly stretched it out so it wouldn't tear, and placed it down into the tunnel liner blanks. I tried to press the tin foil into the glue gently so I didn't press out too much of the detail that I wanted to look like rock on the inside of the liner. I made slits along the edge of the tin foil where it protruded from the liner end to help hold things in place while the glue dried.

Once the glue was dried I trimmed off the rough edges of the tin foil with a pair of scissors.

The next step was to paint the tin foil flat black. I used two coats to make sure no shiny tin foil was showing through the paint.

With that done, the tunnel liner was complete and put back on the layout. I still need to add ballast to the track before moving on, but I wanted to let you see how things turned out.

I didn't have a camera that would take shots of the interior of the tunnel liner very well, so I can't show you the simulated rock detail. But I thought it turned out rather well, and it's certainly dark enough for a proper tunnel. To the left in the next picture you can see another tunnel liner that was in the same vicinity on the layout.

If you've got some tunnel liners you need to make, but have been dreading tackling the task, give my procedure a try. Once you get the hang of it work goes really quick. Best thing about it is you don't have to deal with any messy plaster either. 

Thanks for following along!

Paul, that looks like a

Paul, that looks like a fantastic technique. I would also suggest that if a smooth look of finished concrete was desired that could be done easily by gluing in a smooth paper liner and applying the proper paint. Also brick paper could be used to simulate the brick tunnels that were used as well. I suspect that cut stone could also be used if allowances were made for some additional thickness.

I am wondering if it would not be able to use that flexible retaining wall product as well, on the inside of the tunnels. It would be most impressive from the outside and would really be impressive when filmed with the iPhone car.

@ Rob

Rob,

I believe you're correct. Any number of methods could be used to finish off the inside of the tunnel liner with this technique. For those who really like to use plaster, the liner could be coated with that. I think the liner could even be lined with wood for that wood bracing look some modelers like in their tunnels.

Paul...

Excellent! Your procedure is a nice, clean and simple way to make a very nice liner. Good job.    John

Thanks John!

Once I worked out the details, I couldn't believe how incredibly easy this tunnel liner technique was compared to anything that I had done before. 

GENIUS!

Fantastic use of scrap foam, and what can be cheaper than some foil from the kitchen.  We modelers can be extremely creative in the use of stuff just being within eyesight when it comes to solving a problem or making do when needed.  Looking forward to more scenery work.

Jeff EL Marion 2nd Sub 1964

@ Jeff

Jeff,

I think I'm going to show the title of your comment to my wife. That's what I've been trying to get her to see these many years! 

In all seriousness, that creative problem solving aspect you mentioned is one of the things I really enjoy about this hobby. Finding simple solutions to sometimes complex problems is very rewarding, but sometimes it takes a fellow modeler to appreciate what's really involved in that whole process. Thanks for the compliments!

Brilliant idea, simple, easy

Brilliant idea, simple, easy and lightweight. 

Looking for a way to cover a holding yard in my dirty furnace room. This may work. 

That's great

what a great technique!  Thanks for sharing!

- George

@ George & Tim

Thanks guys. You know looking back at it now it seems so obvious and simple. I don't know why I didn't think of it for my last layout. It sure would have made things a lot easier. Glad you liked the idea. I hope it will be of help and use to many modelers in the future.

Great idea!...and timely!    

Great idea!...and timely!

I'm going to steal....uummmm,I mean use it!

Tom

@ Tom

Glad to hear it Tom! Let me know how things work out for you and if you come up with any improvements.

Great idea, Paul

My former method...

On the two liners I've built previously,I used a half tube made of poster board with sculpamold applied to the interior. That works well,and is easy,as long as the liner is straight. For curved liners,I had to cut the "tube" in numerous places to be able to curve it. This is doable,but more difficult to maintain the proper radius,especially when moving it to the workbench to apply the plaster.Once the plaster is applied and dry it works well.One almost needs eight hands to get a clean curve. Your method of using segments is far more efficient!...easier to work with,and more stable. The only change, actually more of an addition,I'm going to do is applying the sculptamold to the interior to get the blasted rock effect. As others stated,one could use other lining techniques to get other effects such as brick,concrete,or wood linings. I'll probably attempt some of these also,just for variety,although wood linings wouldn't fit my 50s-60s era for an eastern class one mainline. 

    Tom

Replies

Paul - Glad you enjoyed the post. Thanks for the kind words.

Tom - Your idea of using Sculptamold for the interior of the tunnel liner was what I originally was going to do. In the end I decided not to because I guess I was lazy, and didn't want to use up my supply of Sculptamold on the tunnel liners. I also wasn't sure how to get the rock texture with Sculptamold I desired, which came so easily with the tin foil. 

Filler Ties

Well, just as I got ready to make this post, I saw Bill Brillinger's thread for new Filler ties that you can buy to fill those tie holes that occur at rail gaps. I'm not sure whether to laugh, or cry at this point. But being cheap, I probably wouldn't have forked out the dough any way to purchase them. So, for those do-it-yourself types out there here's my adventure with filler ties.

After working for about an hour sanding ties down to fit under rail joiners, my middle finger started to hurt, and here's why. I had sanded the the skin off as I held the ties I was working with against the sand paper. 

That of course was unacceptable, especially since I had another six hours of filler ties to do. And that was just to take care of the main deck! Ugh! Something had to be done. I tried a number of different techniques and finally came up with this.

Instead of using one sanding block I decided to use two. I placed the ties that needed to be sanded down on the lower sanding block...

The upper sanding block was a small piece of 1/2" plywood with sandpaper wrapped around it.

The ties to be sanded were sandwiched between the two sanding blocks. I typically held the lower sanding block in my left hand, but couldn't take a picture that way, so I just set it down on the layout here to show you.

This method works best if the sandpaper on the upper block is fresh sandpaper, while the paper on the lower block is already slightly used. That way the ties slide across the lower block, but the upper block grit holds them without moving. When the sandpaper on the lower block gets filled with sanding dust, I throw that away, replace it with the sandpaper that was on the upper block, then put new sandpaper on the upper block.

Another "tool" I made use of while laying the filler ties was a car weight that had come from an old Wather's tank car.

It proved valuable in a number of different ways:

1) It was thin enough that I could slide it under the rail connectors where the filler ties were to go to clean things out and make sure there weren't any dried glue beads from track laying that might get in the way.

2) It made pushing the ties under the rails easier, and was a great guide to line up the tie ends once the filler ties were in place, which is what I was doing in the picture above. 

3) Once the filler ties were installed I laid the edge of the car weight on top of the rail head to check that the filler ties hadn't made any humps in the rail. This was especially important to check at insulated rail joiners. If I found any humps, I sanded the ties more until the hump disappeared.

Here's a view of the yard with the filler ties installed. They show up as the lighter ties, due to the sanding. 

Thanks for following along!

Glad That's Done!

All the filler ties are now in on the layout. Yay!

Much as I enjoy model railroading, I have to admit, some aspects of it are just tedious and boring. Putting in filler ties has got to be at the top of that list!

Now, time to run some trains again! 

Painting Track

Got the main deck track painted this weekend. Boy, what a difference a little paint makes in terms of a more realistic appearance! You can see the painted track in the left of the next picture compared to the unpainted track to the right.

I'm not sure how others paint track, but I use the same paint that I use to paint my fascia. It has kind of a grayish brown appearance on the track, and I think looks fairly realistic, but I'll let you be the judge of that.

The paint I use is the cheapest latex paint I can get from Walmart. I just brush it on every where, even over the turnout points. Paint on the railheads is easily removed with a Cratex or Bright Boy track cleaner. You can even just use your thumb nail if you want to do that. Turnout points are easily freed up after painting, and I haven't had any issues with them not working later on.

Besides not having any smell, what I really like about using latex paint on the track is the ease with which track can be reused. When I tore down my last layout to begin this one I had quite a bit of used track that had been already been painted. To re-bend sections of flex track, all I did was soak the track in a water/alcohol mix for a while. That loosened things up enough for me to bend the track again. True, it wasn't as easily bent as when brand new, but the track was still fairly easy to work with, which proved a big help when I began this new layout. 

Here's a picture of the yard with painted tracks.

As always, comments are always welcome. Thanks for following along!

Living Color

You're making great progress Paul.  Me thinks it won't be long until we see some pics with long cuts of N&W hoppers filling those yard tracks.  

Jeff EL Marion 2nd Sub 1964

@ Jeff

Jeff,

Funny you should mention a yard full of hopper cars. In fact to start painting track I had to spend and hour or so running trains to take all the cars on the layout down to the staging yard. It was tough, but somebody had to do it! 

Somebody's got to do it...

Times like that make for an "extra board" call out for assistance.  It's always good to have friends in the basement, even if not operating in the sense of the word.  It can make the work less tedious having some laughs and chuckles for a while. 

Jeff EL Marion 2nd Sub 1964

Did someone say a yard full

Did someone say a yard full of hoppers? I'm ready. Lets build some trains and get'em over the road.

@ Jeff & Rob - I Could Use Some Help!

Oh that I could have both you guys over to run some trains! You're both welcome any time! It would be nice to have some friends over for support who actually get what model railroading is all about. I could use some help, in more ways than one!

Over Thanksgiving I was playing a game with my family and unfortunately was first man out. So while the others finished up I ducked into the railroad room for a few minutes to paint some track. Next thing you know I hear a chorus of "I've been working on the railroad...all the live long day" coming from the kitchen. Then my daughter yelled out "Dad! Toot the horn!" and there were a bunch of laughs. Guess they were having a lot of fun at my expense. Will they never learn and understand???? Oh well. Such is the life of an adult model railroader. 

I know being down in Texas, Rob isn't too likely to be in the Minnesota area soon, but what about you Jeff? Are you located anywhere near Minneapolis? 

One can only wish it...

...but alas, I am not.  Closer than Rob for sure, but north central Indiana ( south of south Bend about 20 minutes) to Minneapolis is some 8 hours drive.  Not a quick getaway for sure.  I've never been to Minnesota though, so who knows. I'm an ops junkie, so when you get to the point of holding ops, drop me a line.  Maybe I'll just decide to make a banzai weekend run to your place!  

Until then, keep up the great work and next time, try not to be the first man out...! And if you are, leave 'em with the song "I'll BE working on the railroad...". Beating them to the punch will leave them with nothing. 

Jeff EL Marion 2nd Sub 1964