Tunnel Construction

hi trainmaster1989
Just a small caution to add to the list make the Tunnel far larger bore than
is required the trend is for larger locomotives.
And if you win the lottery and decide you want steam power they tend to be a little larger bur not much than most G scale stock there are as always exeptions.
Oh and if you have a pet rabbit keep an eye on it a friend of mine had to explain to his very young daughter why floppsy was an expired rabbit
head on with heavy steam train in the tunnel
regards John

i am using the chimney flue linner. its 12x 24, it works great. my only complaint is the longest they make is 24 inchs.

but its workin out just fine.

Jeff

Last week I ran into the foreman of our local waterworks dept. He offered me a 12" x 14’ (foot) PVC watermain pipe. The only catch was that the end was full of concrete. A portable generator and a sawsall made easy work of lightening the load in about 5 minutes. And best of all, I only had to cut off about 8 inches from the end.

After I got it home and cut it to the desired length of 66", it still weighed in at about 150 lbs. The wall is 1 inch thick! It’s definetly not going anywhere! And I still have another 8’ left…WOOHOO[:p]

JEFF
I ALSO USED A CHIMNEY FLUE LINNER YOU CAN PUT 2—3 TOGETHER AND USE STONES TO HIDE THEM LIKE A MOUNTIAN . BEN[2c][:)]

Very nice Marty-

Being a newby to the hobby, I’ll ask the obviously simple question. How much height do you need? I haven’t seen the gundersons in action yet but would like the possibility of adding in the future. What is the height of your portals before laying ballast?

Thanks,
Chris

PS: As a side note. I stopped by a local construction site where the city is putting in water and sewer for a 600 home development. There is pipe everywhere!

I took the advice of a previous poster and spoke to the forman about getting some of their throw-aways. Looks like I’ll have my choice of sizes and lengths for only the cost of some beer.

What is the minimum diameter I should get? I know I saw 12", 16", 18" and possibly 24". Also wondering if anyone runs a double mainline through a tunnel? Any suggestions or additional thoughts on size?

Thanks in advance,
Chris

IMHO I would get all the sizes. Small to very large.
Helps to have a stock of it unless you want to go and buy a whole pipe for only a needed section of 3’.
I raid plumbers when I see them. I just ask for any bad pipe, brass or plastic.

Thanks for the advice Blue. I’ll have to see what I can get away with next time I stop by the construction site. Hopefully they will set aside their throw-aways like they said they would.

Chris

hi y’all,
I’m tryin to do the same thing, and all I know is that a tunnel should NEVER be more than two arm lengths long (if your train de-rails, a hedgehog thinks its a hibernation hole etc.etc.)
hope this was of some help,

Another idea I have heard of is to use a plastic 15 inch culvert. It can be bent if you wish, but as stated, make sure you leave access from the top just in case you need it, and don’t forget to punch holes in the bottom for drainage.

Also, I read in an article someplace that if you make some sort of a plug or drape somethng over the enterance and exit when you are not running the railroad, it will help to keep out the critters and leaves.

I’ve got 2 screens that fit over the ends to keep the rabbits out.

Here’s a thread on my tunnel project:
http://www.mylargescale.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=20558

Tim,

Make sure and post pictures of your finished tunnel. Looks very interesting!

Thanks,

BTH_RR

i use cement block, with a metal cover over top,
or use concreate caps.
then pain the inside black, after you are done mudding it up,
then attach your portals to face of cement blocks.

good luck, andy

Treated wood, depending on how they were treated, could harm plants, I’m afraid. Creosote if used certainly can. Check to see what method was used to treat the wood, and if leaching into the soil is a problem. Untreated wood might be useful for very temporary tunnels. I’ve even tried slopping a layer of cement/sand on top of the plywood construction once, but I did not notice if this trick worked, as the line was later replaced when I had re-aligned the right of way and built a more permanent structure.

concrete block worked well on our garden railroad, we put concrete 2x2 paver sections with geofabric on top of that to prevent dirt falling through paver joints.

-Hammer

Does the geofabric work well, and how much dirt escapes without it?

try useing 4x8x16 cinder blocks standing on its side then topping off with 1x8x16 for the roof then cover with plastic or rubber pond liner and cover with dirt, rocks, ect to your liking

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that PT wood will not harm your plants. I have several anecdotal reasons for saying this. One, I have seen lots and lots of PT planters with beautifully flourishing arrangements growing in them. Two, PT wood is made for direct burial as it is the wood of choice for use in deck building. Even decks made from cedar and redwood generally use PT lumber for structural elements that will not be seen. And three, with all the tree huggers employed by the EPA, if there were actually a credible threat to both the North American Cockleburr plant (that thing that everyone’s dog’s love to run through) and the Milkweedus Profundus, then the use of PT wood would be history.

Creosote, on the other hand… in the words of the Emerald City Taxi driver as he said to Dorothy Gale… “That’s a horse of a different color!!!”

Cynically and with all due respect to the non-tree hugger EPA types,
Mark

On the subject of tunnel liner material, here’s what NOT to use. Pink foam, the rigid stuff used on concrete walls. I used this in one of my tunnels and covered it with chicken wire and then rags soaked in morter. The tunnels are just not rigid enough to put any weight on them without their collapse. I would highly recommend the use of more permanent materials like wood or concrete.

Mark

Oh my god, John, the pet rabbit was killed by the toy train? That’s something I hadn’t ever eard of before.

Here’s a tip about keeping things from living in your tunnel: I hear that some people use removeable plates, plastic curtains, or whatever, across the entrances to their longer tunnels. They just move the plates/curtains into place when not running trains. Might save a lot of hassle of an infestation.