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This train tunnel coloring page cuts a mountain open like a slice of cake. Inside, a steam engine rolls through a long tunnel lit by three lamps, with its nose just poking out into the sun on the right. A coach of smiling riders follows behind it. Above the tunnel you can spot rocks, pines and three mountain goats on their ledges. Below the track, a mole sits in its burrow near gold nuggets and crystals.
Kids aged five to eleven love cutaway pictures. This one takes about thirty five minutes. The mountain is a big easy shape, and there is a small surprise in every layer.
Layers of color
Think of the mountain in bands. Use a warm tan for the upper rock, with gray and cream stones scattered through it. Leave the peak white with snow. The soil at the very bottom can be a deep brown.
The tunnel needs to feel different from the rock around it. A pale purple or light gray works, and the three lamps can glow yellow. Paint the stone lining along the top in gray and cream, block by block.
Make the train bright against that pale wall. Try a blue boiler, a red cab and yellow wheels. The coach could be green. Outside the mountain, keep to a clear blue sky and a strip of green grass, so that the cut shape really stands out.
Tips for this train tunnel coloring page
- Color the sky around the mountain first. It makes the peak look sharp.
- Use the side of a brown crayon on the soil, then add darker scribbles.
- Fill the crystals with two colors each, one for every face.
- Add a soft glow around each lamp with a yellow pencil.
Kids who want more can draw things in the rock, such as a fossil fish, a hidden cave or a second mole tunnel.
Want a night scene? Color the sky dark outside and let the lamps be the only bright spots in the picture.
The longest rail tunnel on Earth
The longest railway tunnel in the world runs under the Alps in Switzerland. The Gotthard Base Tunnel is about 35 miles long, and it goes so deep that up to 8,040 feet of rock sit above the trains at its deepest spot. Work began in 1999, and it officially opened in June 2016.
Crews dug it with four giant tunnel boring machines that chewed through the rock. That is a long way from a little tunnel in a coloring book, but the idea is the same. You can read more about the Gotthard Base Tunnel and how it was built.
Dig deeper
Build a tunnel at home. Make a mound of damp sand or play dough and push a cardboard tube through it. Now slide a toy car or train through the hole. What happens when you pull the tube out? It often caves in, and that shows why real tunnels need a strong lining like the stone one in this drawing.
A cutaway is also a fun way to think about what is under our feet. Ask your child to draw a cutaway of your yard or street, with pipes, roots, worms and maybe a sleepy mole. Even a very simple one helps kids see that the ground has layers.
For a science link, match the bands of this drawing to a real lesson on soil and rock. Where would you find roots? Where would you dig for gold? Teachers can ask students to label each layer in pencil before they add color.
More tracks to follow
This train tunnel coloring page sits with the rest of our train coloring pages. Climb the slope on the mountain train sheet, or look for a much taller climb on the train on a bridge page.
Questions
Why can we see inside the mountain?
The drawing is a cutaway. It slices the mountain open so kids can see the tunnel, the train and the ground below it all at once.
What lives under the track?
A little mole sits in its burrow, next to gold nuggets and colored crystals in the soil.
Where is the engine going?
The engine is just coming out of the right side of the tunnel, while its coach is still inside the mountain.
