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[quote user="caldreamer"]In my humble opinion, using 2 cars pe driver axle or 1.5 cars driver axle is not nearly as protypical as my approach. [/quote] The problem with your approach is, it doesn't work for grades smaller 1%. Then the pulling power gets larger than at 0% grade. And pulling power at 1% grade equals that at 0%. DrW already pointed this out. The tractive effort of a locomotive on a grade is not less than on level track, the train's resistance gets larger with the grade. Adjust the resistance for grade (R) and don't change the tractive effort (TE). To avoid mathematical problems the equation could look like this: needed TE = R (0%) + R (g%) Car per axle is a modification of the prototype approach tons per axle. As the weight difference of model cars of different length and load capacity is much smaller than on the prototype, it is easier to use cars per axle. @NWP SWP: When model railroading magazines tested locomotives in the past they mostly gave the pulling power in ounces or number of cars on level track and sometimes on a grade. If MR still does this I can't check in the test section of this website as I don't subscribe to MR anymore. Regards, Volker
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