Changing grades

[crisco1]

  Hi,

    Does anyone out there have any suggestions on how I can go

from one grade to another.  The grade is only 1" high.  I tried using

the woodland scenic white foam, but its too steep.  It needs to be

gradual.

                                                                                Thanks,

                                                                                 Chris

 

[SouthPenn]

I use cedar shims that are used to level or plumb doors and windows. I cut the thick end the same height as the roadbed. Then it makes a smooth taper.

 

[speedybee]

I'm not sure if this is what you mean when you say woodland scenics white foam, but Woodland Scenics makes products called "incline starters" and "incline sets" that are essentially long gentle styrofoam ramps. And they're flexible so you can put curves into your grades.

I don't see how these could be too steep, as they come in grade as low as 2%.

[selector]

If you have the stomach for it, and intend to ballat your tracks, you can just let a length of flex track to the transition for you.  You anchor it close to the ends of the length of flex track, and you leave the middle unsupported.  If you fashion a ramp with cookie-cutter plywood, and don't want to bend the cookie cut strip, the middle of the flex will sag a bit and fashion the transitional vertical curve.

To be clear, you can support a plywood strip at your desired angle and length using risers fastened to joists, or just small blocks of 1X2 glued and spaced about 6" apart.  Lay your plywood strip on top of those risers, glue it all, and then do as I suggested...let the flex sag into the sharp angle at the base of the incline. Later, you'll fill that gap with ballast, but you can fill up some of the gap first with bits of foam or wood so you don't use up three or four cups of ballast.

When you are done, and the track is glued with ballast, it should form a pretty decent vertical curve.

I have never used the grade riser set discussed earlier.  I make my own inclines.

[mbinsewi]

I've never used the Woodland Scenic stuff, I've done my own "grading", but I will tell you, the transition to the rise is the key.  Just as the transition to a curve is important.

Mike.

[BroadwayLion]

The BEST grade transition is with cookie cutter method. This has a built in trasnition.

 

ROAR

[BATMAN]

Not sure what you are trying to do. Please tell us where you are wanting to go from/to. How about a pic. 

You can always take a piece of foam and cut out your own, something like I have done here. You can make it as long and gradual as you like.

 

 

[BigDaddy]

speedybee

I don't see how these could be too steep, as they come in grade as low as 2%.

According to the WS website, you get 1" in 48" of 2% risers.  I don't know what their instructions say about transitions, but I wouldn't think that would be very hard to manage with some foam shavings.

 

[willy6]

I used WS inclines and risers.There are numerous combinations of mixing inclines and risers that can be used to meet your needs.

[originaldirtguy]

I've used a few different methods. All of them were "custom" :) I have used foam board that I sanded and sculpted to make the entry and exit from the grade. I've also used cork roadbed with the "sag method" mentioned above, but with a bunch of caulking below the cork. After drying, painting, and ballasting, it all works pretty well. If you have the time/resources, a little experimentation may prove a worthwhile investment.

Hope this helps...

s~

[Lone Wolf and Santa Fe]

Sometimes I use card stock (cardboard). I use one at first then after a couple of inches add another on top of it and then another to gradually start a grade. Sometimes I use wooden match sticks or popsicle sticks instead. You could also use sheet styrene if you like. Sometimes I just cut the sub roadbed into a wedge shape.

[jjdamnit]

Hello all,

Some more details would help...

What scale are you modeling?

How long a grade are you talking about? Inches, feet, yards?

What is the overall elevation gain for the given distance?

Why do you need a transition from one grade to the other?

From one grade to the other how much distance is there?

Transition grades are most effective with a level transition between the grades.

If you need to make a grade transition from 1% to 2% in 6-actual inches this might be difficult because of the abrupt change.

On the other hand if you are making the same transition in 2-feet that makes a big difference.

The more specifics you can provide the more we can help.

Hope this helps.