# Tunnel redo



## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Ten years ago when I built my railroad the trains were smaller so I built tunnels to fit. Now I and my friends are getting larger locomotives and some of them will not fit through the tunnels. The width is adequate but the height is to low. Therefore I have begun to raise the roof! I have 2 tunnels, one four footer and one 20 footer. The long one is actually 2 four footers with a hidden open space in between so the fix is to redo the 3 four foot sections. Here is the entrance to the 20 foot tunnel.









A closer view showing the height as about 8 3/8 inches.









This is the entrance to the short tunnel with the over burden removed.









I found that I had glued everything together with LiquidNails and could not get the roof off. The solution was to cut out the center section of the roof as shown below. I used a Skill saw with a dry diamond blade to make the cuts.









Placing the new roof on top of the remaining old roof edges resulted in approximately 2 inches of additional head space.









More to come on this project!


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## Wesley Furman (Jan 2, 2008)

Winn,
I know we talked about your tunnel rebuild but I didn't realize the magnitude of the earth work. My narrow mind was focused on the single south tunnel. Numbers I got from Roger and his Farymead was 5.75" wide, 8.25" tall. Looks like more than enough room. 
Saw cut looks great, did you glue the new roof blocks in place?
Wesley


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## David Leech (Dec 9, 2008)

This all of course brings up an interesting point - just how large is the largest loco running on Gauge 1 track right now.
BY large, I guess I mean TALL and WIDE.
I have to rework what is more of a bridge than a tunnel, having realigned the track under, and discovered that I have about 7" clearance at one end, but only 6" at the other.
Now since my railway is a 1/32 scale railway, and will not 'normally' have narrow gauge running, I do however feel that I need to welcome my narrow minded friends and make enough room for at least one track to be used by them.
So is the 8.25" the tallest loco that is running right now?
All the best,
David Leech, Delta, Canada


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

David,
I suggest making a foam block the size of the largest foreign equipment visitor you will encounter. Put trucks under it and roll it around. A sierra passenger car isn't much larger than a boxcar, but the inside over hang on a curve called out the chainsaw to modify a portal.... The boxcar fooled me.
Added length changes the overhang....
Large= Tall, Wide and LENGTH
Happy Rails
John


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Best to look and see how tall a K-36 or K-37 might be....they are some of the current "Large" n.g. locos on the market..

I'm running 12" on my n.g. for clearances ..
At least 10" on the 1/29th mainline...

...also the Big n.g. locos .... are .... well beyond the 8" - 8 1/2 " widths....and rather long..hence checking curves for clearances is important...... and don't forget bridges that are above the rails...

Also on these big steamers.....cylinders are wide and hang down low....check switches and stands....

Its all fun...
..Yes our hobby has grown ..
...in many ways!!!


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

I am raising the roof on the tunnels but will not be increasing the width of 7.5 inches. I guess if anyone wants to run something too wide for that they will be confined to the upper loop which has no tunnels!
Wesley, I don't think I will glue the new roof in place. I don't think it will go anywhere once the over burden is back in place.
SD90, I have had a K36 run through the tunnels as they were however my K27 would not fit with the spark arrester in place. It is the big LITTLE locos that have been the most problem.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

PS Wesley, Thanks for the dimensions on Roger's loco. I don't remember what Vance was running that would not go through the tunnels but I'm sure I will have enough clearance now.


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## Dan Pantages (Jan 2, 2008)

Accucraft says the K37 is 8" high and 6.25" wide. The K36 is 8.25" high and 6.25" wide. These numbers are from their specs.


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## Naptowneng (Jun 14, 2010)

Hi Winn
Nice thread, I also have a tunnel that was not planned with my creep to NG in mind. Fortunately I made it 9 inches from rail head to the tunnel, so far so good. Another issue may be flat car loads. Now and then I get a little too creative with those and need to set up a simple frame over the track to test for tunnel height clearance which does the trick for my loads and new locos on the layout. Now if I only had not put a curve entering into my truss bridge....thunk...

Jerry


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Some more progress on the tunnel. I lowered the floor about 2 inches added a layer of sand which I screeded to the original depth minus the thickness of a concrete paver.









Then I laid in the pavers and swept sand into the cracks to lock them in place. This should give a base for the track that will not have to be adjusted every Spring!









I then added grade blocks every 4 feet outside the ends of the tunnel. I have been slowly doing this for the whole layout.









I am using concrete paver bricks for the grade blocks. Earlier I had used regular bricks but they tend to disintegrate with the freeze-thaw cycle.









I cut 1/4 inch thick cedar strips to glue along each side of the track to keep it centered in the tunnel. I also painted the walls and roof black.









I used a piece of 1/8 steel plate for the roof in the area where the overhead track runs so as not to increase the grade which was already nearly 4 percent. The rest of the roof is concrete pavers.









Now I just need to replace the rock and dirt overburden, reinstall the track and build new portals. More photos when that is done.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

As you all probably know, one thing leads to another! I decided while redoing the tunnel that I might as well redo the track over the top which has a too tight "S" curve and a goofy "Y". First here is a photo of the tunnel with part of the overburden replaced. I still need to build new portals.









I lowered the grade over the top a little, made it more uniform and added grade blocks. This is the old track alignment looking east. I had to remove the existing retaining wall and move it over. The scraped off area to the left of the track is where the wall was.









The new alignment.









The track curves around and heads north where it ran into the strange "Y" and over a bridge.









I am redoing the "Y" but need a left hand switch to replace the existing right hand one. In the photo I have the existing switch upside down to show the alignment. That is where I quit today.


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Turned out nice. 

JJ


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

Even the full size guys have this problem! I was reading an article recently about CSX enlarging a tunnel near Washington, to allow double-stack container cars through.


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