The light at the end of the tunnel

08/13/2007 The light at the end of the tunnel

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A large aspect of making a train layout is illusion. I decided that my tunnel should look as if it goes somewhere so when one looks into it one may see the other end of the tunnel - the famous light at the end of the tunnel !

This is what you will see if you look into my tunnel...

The tracks in this tunnel do not exit at what looks like the exit, they go off to some secret marshalling yard. Here is how I made the tunnel light:

Some years ago I scanned a Faller tunnel portal to get the exact shape of a tunnel entrance. I then copied a small section of a backdrop and cut it out in the shape of a tunnel mouth but scaled down to about half size, printed that out onto paper and cut it out.

Next I took some Plexiglass® (or Perspex® as it is known in some countries) and cut a hole somewhat larger than the backdrop. I drilled holes on the outer edge large enough for 3mm LEDs to be inserted. I painted all the surfaces except the inner curve with silver paint in order to maximize the light that would be emitted from the inner curved area.

I left the half drill holes in the curved part to increase light output along that surface.

I then placed the light frame in a black cardboard box along with the backdrop cutout

and taped it closed with black tape...

The unit is then simply placed in the tunnel. I power mine with a stationary decoder so that I can switch it off at night.

I will probably add some yellow/orange paint to the underside of the light arch to make the light a bit warmer and more like sunlight.