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There's a dip between double tracks, and most people think it's for drainage, but that's not all. When the railroad replace ties they need that ditch for clearance to pull the old tie out and as a place to store the ballast that was removed for tie pulling. The slope of roadbed is dependent on ballast size, ballast shape, and surrounding lay of the land. Gravity is the biggest spreader of ballast so courser and rougher ballast have steeper sides than say pea gravel would. Typical angel is 45 degrees with some rough ballast in the 60 degree range. Some are so steep you can't climb them. Also it depends on if the track is higher or lower than the land. Rails are pretty much flat with 1.5 per cent slop being steep grade to the railroads. If the track is in a ditch the angle of the ballast is almost 0 with the ditch banks rising at about 45 deg.. If the track is elevated the ballast is generally steeper the higher the track goes. A lot of times on really elevated tracks the base will be dirt with grass, weed, and scrub trees growing on it to stabilize it and will be around 45 slope. Othertime the rails will build retaining walls from concrete or old ties, esp. in town where space is at a premium. Most yards are flat and some don't even show the ties. There are also different types of yard and sidings and they vary in use and appearance. A team yard may only have the very tops of the track showing with a cut where the flanges mash out the mud/gravel. Some classification yards are better kept than the mains. I suggest getting in your car and go see the real thing. The basic right of way has changed little since WWII.
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