Model Train Journal

The three-rail world is quiet...

I started a new paper project, a signal/switch tower in the style of the old tin Hornby tower (not sure if that was a prewar or postwar item, or both) found on the Tribute to Tinplate site. I got permission from the artist to edit the graphics to accommodate a three-dimensional staircase and entry on one end (similar to the Hornby version). All I've done so far is make the edits, print the graphics, mount them on matt-board, then cut them out:



My printer sucks; I never seem to get the screen colors on the printed product, especially anything red. What happened to the old WYSIWYG days, lol.

I'm thinking I'll cut out the windows, then reprint them on cardstock and mount them in the openings with some acetate "glazing" behind them. The staircase, I think I'll build that free-standing, then just slap it on. This is going to be an evolution...

Good luck. That looks like a fun project. I once thought of downloading/buying an OO scale UK-style water tower cardstock kit and blowing them up to ¼" scale, maybe one day.

I've tried that a few times myself, but dependent upon the resolution of the original, the enlarged version often times looks a bit fuzzy and/or pixelated. I've even tried printing it, than scanning it on a high-resolution setting and trying to enlarge it using MS Paint. Still seems to lose much of the sharpness of the original.

Here's a link to Howard's plans:

https://bigindoortrains.com/primer/buildings/lackie/switch_tower/switch_tower.htm

Howard designed it to be built with card underpinnings, than a wrap using the graphics. That requires a level of precision I have a tough time replicating. Instead, I print the graphics, paste them on matt-board, cut them out, then assemble them using balsa or basswood on the interior corners. I print a second set of the graphics from which I can cut strips I can use to cover the exposed exterior corners. I figure it's supposed to look like lithographed tin when done, so a bit of imperfection is okay.

Interesting.

Still working on clearing stuff off the south end of the layout, but here's a shot from the archives taken in this section. A Flyer-headed freight clears the tunnel at Heat-Pump Pass, heading north toward the 305 Hellgate:



Should be able to get some of the stuff running shortly.

Do you have any other pictures of the mountain with the tunnel you can post

Sure, let me dig them out.

Okay, so the pics I took a while back all reside on my stricken Photobucket repository, so, having failed to take advantage of their attempt at extortion, I pretty much lost access to those. No matter, I took a few this evening and here you go:







This thing was one giant experiment, and the results are a mixed bag for sure. I wanted to build something that had the Lionel felt-soaked-in-white-glue look about it, but with nicer portals and some foam rock-work.

The structure of the tunnel is built out of one-inch foam panels I picked up at Lowes or HD. They sell the stuff in three-foot square pieces, so I bought four or five of those and built the basic structure.

I cut the portals from some pine scraps I had laying around in the shop, roughly cutting the opening using a hand-held jigsaw. If you look close, you can see they are somewhat misshapen, but then so are most of the felt tunnels I've seen over the years. I put a band of 1/4-inch basswood across the top to provide a bit of trim. The "LL" (Lionel Lines) keystone I made using a couple of foam applique letters I stole from the wife's craft box. I wanted liners in the tunnels for the first 8-10 inches, so I printed some brick-paper I found on the web somewhere, pasted it on matt-board, then glued it into the interior structure using more foam as a backer. Fortunately, the matt-board is bendable if you take care, so I got a reasonable curved interior.

The "rock" face is just more one-inch thick foam glued in layers, than an attempt to make it look like rock. I've watched a ton of YouTube videos on how to carve rock from foam, and the methods seem to vary widely. I would say my attempt looks pretty amateur compared to what I've seen on Murph's layout and a few others.

The top is just a bunch of foam partitions cut to a hill profile, than a combination of newspaper and paper towels soaked in thin Hydrocal for a hard surface. The intention was originally to paint it using Lionel's instructions they gave with their postwar portal set, but it didn't work too well, so I'm either going to tear it off and try again or just cover it with green lichen.

Anyway, there you go. Any questions, comments, or suggestions welcome.

I have to say, when it comes to prewar-style portals, I've kinda grown to like this approach that I used on the castle/tunnel project from a couple years ago:



Howard Lamey turned me on to this method; just a simple wood portal cut from a pine scrap, covered with paper mache, then some thin corrugated cardboard cut to look like stone and glued over the corner. Once it's painted with appropriate colors, then dry-brushed a bit to bring up some highlights, it can look pretty good.

On the large tunnel it looks like you captured the look of a prewar Lionel tunnel.

Is it easy to remove in the event of a derailment inside the tunnel.

There's a piece of masonite attached across the back, which includes a hinged 8"x10" access hole for cleaning the track and clearing derailments. The plan is to cut the masonite to match the contour, but haven't done it yet as I'm not convinced I'm keeping it as is.

I have a four-lamp track-lighting fixture over the layout which I'm growing increasingly unhappy with. Just not enough light. I recently swapped out the incandescent and halogen bulbs for LEDs, and this helped somewhat. Might swap it all out for a long strip fixture of LEDs. To be honest, the basement, obviously, is inherently dark, so having just a few lights over the layout doesn't really solve the lighting problem.

Task for the day was pruning the old red oak out back:



It was such a great day, wasn't paying attention and got a bit carried away