On30 Tunnel Portals

Are you in need of a tunnel portal or portals for your On30 layout? If so there are several options available -- either commercially available R-T-U (ready to use) or you can scratchbuild to meet your needs.

Commercially Available Tunnel Portals for On30 Layouts

Here are some commercially available On30 and O scale tunnel portals:

• DebenLLC On30 Wooden Timber Tunnel Portal - Rustic (labstone) Scale Model
• Pre-Size Model Specialties On3/On30 Tunnel Portal
• Pre-Size Model Specialties O scale Tunnel Portals
• Scenic Express O Scale Tunnel Portals & Walls
• Hunterline O Scale and S Scale Tunnel Portals -- Read this Blog post on building this portal kit
• Monroe Models O Scale and S Scale Tunnel Portals and Walls
• Ultimate Scenery O scale and S Scale Tunnel Portals

We have included some S Scale tunnel portals in the links above as some On30 modelers have decided on the use of S Scale tunnel portals for On30 layouts. Also please note that most if not all of the R-T-U tunnel portals still require stain/paint/weathering, and some are kits.

Scratchbuilding On30 Tunnel Portals

If you prefer to scratchbuild tunnel portal(s) you might consider these references:

• NMRA Recommended Practice 7.1 on Tangent Track Centers and Clearance Diagrams
• Thomas Farrell's Facebook post on building an On30 Timber Tunnel Portal using an On30 Clearance Gauge
• Pacific Coast Air Line Railway Timber Tunnel Portal for an On30 Railway based on an OR&W tunnel
• Railroad Line Forums On30 Wooden Tunnel Portals topic has several ideas, and a dimensional drawing

There are also numerous magazine articles providing reference and how-to information for various types of tunnel portals. A few of them are listed below. For a more complete list visit the Trains.com Magazine Index - you will need a (free) account on Trains.com to use the index.

• Select list of magazine references to be supplied after research is completed.