Atlas Pier Set Grade?

[Anonymous]

Having done a mountain layout of large size I know how important figuring grades are. I was recently ask by a friend who has a young but growing boy to do an entry level layout. He really wants an up and over loop. What is the grade of Atlas's pier set if set up in a 4x8 figure eight? I want him to be able to run a train without having to much difficulty.

[DSchmitt]

The grade would depend on the placement of the piers.

According to an Atlas HO plan book I looked at, the rise is 1/4" per pier. P1 is 1/4" tall, P2 is 1/2" tall, P3 3/4" tall etc.

The plan I looked at uses 1 pier rise (1/4" rise) per Atlas standard 9" track section. This makes a grade of 2.78%

In the Plan I looked at piers are at the ends of each standard track section.
Piers with 1/8" spaces are placed at the mid point of each track section
The arangement of the piers on the plan is P1, P!+1/8" spacer, P2, P2 +1/8" spacer,
P3, P3+1/8" spacer, etc.

The piers could be placed closer together or further apart to create other grades,