I needed a break from the cardboard buildings, so over the weekend I built the first of two timber tunnel portals. They're based on studying various prototype photos, especially of timber portals on the San Diego & Arizona Eastern (one of the inspirations for my interpretation of the Bakersfield & Ventura) and a drawing of a Western Pacific portal from an old issue of Model Railroader.
It's made of 1/4 x 1/4 and 1/16 x 1/4 stripwood, stained with grey and black acrylic paint from the craft store. I cut and glued it to a lightweight cardstock backing to create four flat subassemblies -- exterior front, two short inside walls, and a roof -- then assembled the parts on an EPS foam core.
The mountain is solid foam with the interior painted black, so it's nice and dark in there, as a tunnel should be. Timber liners extend on the interior side walls for the first few inches at each end.
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| I wasn't going to include a wing wall on the left, since it's so close to the front of the layout, but as I look at it here, I think it needs one, even if it's just an inch wide. |
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