For commercial turnouts, if you can lay a steel straightedge (machinist's ruler or similar) along the straight stock rail and not see any humps or hollows, the grade is immaterial. One past layout had a turnout on an 8% operated downgrade only.
If you lay your own turnouts in place with raw rail on wood ties, all you need to do is keep the track geometry consistent. I have one turnout that is on a 2% grade, superelevated curve that transitions to two concentric tracks, both superelevated, one of which transitions to level while the other keeps climbing. Needless to say, I was VERY careful about maintaining track gauge and a consistent angle of superelevation. That track has been in service for two years now, and the only derailment was the result of backing a freight into a closed trailing point when the stupid operator (me) manually overrode an auto-stop circuit without checking point position.
Consistency is the key. As long as there are no transitions or grade changes within the turnout itself or for a half-carlength (longest car) on any leg, operation should be trouble-free.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - flex track and hand-laid turnouts)
okay. ill have to go uot and get some more cork
Hi!
As Mr. B says, as long as the turnout and adjoining foot or so of trackage are on the same grade, there should be no problem at all.
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
I don't think that should be a problem. However, you should avoid putting a turnout on a transition from a flat to a slope. You should have at least a full engine-length between the start of the grade and the turnout.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
will it hert if i put a turn out on a 1% grad or would it derail (N scale)