Grades

[Anonymous]

David,

The run is measured along the horizontal plane, not the grade. And you're right, the difference in measurement would be negligible in our applications.

Rog

[Anonymous]

Hi David, Your formula is correct. Measure the the distance on the centerline of the track/roadbed. This way you don't have to make any adjustment for grades that are on curves..Vic

[Anonymous]

Thank you David.

Bob (the rookie)

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the info.

Bob

[BR60103]

The formula is the rise divided by the run.

A 1% grade rises 1" in 100" of track. (100 inches is just over 8 feet to give a reference point.)

I'm not sure if you measure the flat distance or along the grade; it won't matter unless you model Pikes Peak or Mt Washington Cog Rly where the grades are 37%.

David the Platelayer

[Anonymous]

The easiest way is to have a grade between 2% and 4%. Any more of a grade and some of your trains will have difficulty with the grade and the angle.

Here are some rough numbers on the grades.
All are based on a 9" piece of track.

2% Rises 3/16th" and requires 16 to go over another track.
3% Rises 1/4" and requires 12 sections to go over another track.
4% Rises 3/8" and requires 8 sections to go over another track.

Hope it helps and good luck,

Dave

[Anonymous]

How do you determine a 2% - 6% etc grade? I do not know the formula used.