[Jim Purpura]

With adequately spaced double track 6” on center rail spacing. How do you find a double tunnel portal to accommodate? I have a Class A on O72 curves don’t see a way to use a single portal. Do you have to scratch build?

 

[Lehigh74]

I think 6” on center is more than what you need. NMRA RP-7.2 has track center at 4 7/16 for 72” radius and 5 13/16 for 32 21/32 radius for modern trains.

Scenic express makes double track portals. The one in the first shot here is on a straight, but it might fit you needs. If not, they are not hard to make. The second shot is a masonry bridge made using rigid foam. And the third shot is a portal made using wood.

 

[Jim Purpura]

Thanks Bob, that is helpful and encouraging. With the limitations of fixed base track like FasTrack you can get in trouble quickly with limited space and large radii.

 

[Lehigh74]

You are welcome, Jim. Here is another portal made with rigid foam leading into my staging area.

 

[wvgca]

i made my portals very similar to the third photo, the wooden ones . i used popsicle sticks for the flats, and bamboo skewers for the rounds in front . they were just glued down to a sheet of wax paper with dap adhesives.

 

[Lehigh74]

I used a sheet of .5mm luan for mine. Draw lines with a black pen. Used lumber from Micro Mark for the timbers. Gave it a few coats of Age-It-Easy.

 

[Millstonemike]

Lots of small "sticks" in my local dollar store; flat, wooden coffee stirrers, round wooden skewers, etc.

 

[sjm9911]

I dont think im staedy enough to make anything like that. I'll just look at what you all do!

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

Probably the easiest way is to take two single track portals and graft them together. A little touch-up on the joint and you have a dual-track portal.

 

[Bryan Moran]

I think my issue will be height but I’ll just put “earth” under the portals. I will run some maxi stacks and am concerned.

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

The Maxi-Stack are a challenge, those might just be one type of car I can't run. Most of my double-level track has 5.25" from the top of the railhead to the overhead obstructions. I don't think the Maxi-Stacks fit, though the MTH auto-carriers do.

 

[Ron045]

The K-Line portals are wider than the MTH ones. I still had to raise mine up a little to accommodate the pantographs on my electrics.

 

[Jim Purpura]

The K-Line portals are wider than the MTH ones. I still had to raise mine up a little to accommodate the pantographs on my electrics.

View attachment 579057

Those fo look significantly wider, would you mind providing dimensions and you say it is K-line. I’ll check their website. Thanks for reply.

 

[Ron045]

Here you go. I raised the height of the portal so the bottom was level with the top of the rail head.
For sale on Trainz.

K-Line K41842 O/O27 2-Double Tunnel Portals – Trainz

This is a K-Line K-41842 O/O27 2-Double Tunnel Portals. It features realistic stone detail and measures 8 1/2 inches tall.Condition: Factory New (C-9)Operational Status: FunctionalOriginal Box: Yes (P-9)Manufacturer: K-LineModel Number: K41842MSRP: $19.95Scale/Era: O ModernModel Type...

www.trainz.com

 

[Steve on Cattail Creek]

Well, as others have said, there's a lot of ways to go. On my layout, I used a pair of Athern double track portals (below is a photo from their site, which I printed out and glued to foamboard to assist in planning, and as installed on the layout, after painting/weathering):

Since then, I made my own copies out of spare foam for a drop-on tunnel I built for my brother-in-law's Christmas layout:

After that, I used the same basic design to produce custom-size portals for another layout. So, there's a lot of flexibility to purchase or create your own portals. All the basic techniques are available on YouTube (along with the sum total of human knowledge . . . and delusion! ). Good luck!