I'm sure there are lots of sidings on grades
I think the only level spot in The New River Valley that i model is the river it's self
but then only in short sections as it is a great white water rafting river
The question is how to keep the cars spotted on the siding from rolling !
I think some folks use weeds between the rails
TerryinTexas
See my Web Site Here
http://conewriversubdivision.yolasite.com/
Most railroads aren't flat. It is common for sidings and even yards to be built on a grade.
Dave H.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Electro,
Although this would have been uncommon on the NYC, it wouldn't have been for the lines out west. I have a DVD of the Durango & Silverton that shows a passing siding on a fairly steep grade.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
ndbprr wrote:A passing siding with an engine attached will be ok but iwth the rolling qualities of most car today you are going to have to have a mechanical means of stopping them or invent really tiny air brakes. Best method I have seen is using a tortise to raise a wire that the axle hits.
And you can drive em all day with a toggle switch and an rechargeable 9 volt battery.
NEAT!
I cannot tell you how much track or roads Ive seen uphill, downhill, sideways and over.
Electrolove,
Back in the dear, dead days of steam, the Southern Pacific had an entire division yard on a grade - Dunsmuir, CA. They could gravity-classify cars without needing a hump, but getting them stopped (with hand brakes) was a bear!
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
clash wrote:Speaking of sidings and grades. Have any of you ever noticed the differene in elevation between the siding and the main track and where a train leaving the siding to re enter the main has to climb a short grade to get back to the level of the main track. I've always wondered if this was intentional to keep cars from rolling out onto the main or if it is just the result of years of adding more ballast to the main while neglecting the siding. Looking at old photos, the seems to be less difference in elevation than you see today.
The answer to your question is, "Both of the above." When possible, track which might hold standing cars is initially laid with a slight upgrade to keep those cars from rolling onto mainline trackage. Then, over the years, main tracks get fresh ballast and realignment far more frequently than do sidings and other low speed trackage. The disparity in height gradually increases over time.
Yard workers sometimes refer to their workplace as, "The bowl," tacit recognition of the practice of having every track slope down from the ladders at both ends.
ndbprr wrote: you are going to have to have a mechanical means of stopping them or invent really tiny air brakes.
I once heard of sticking a coupler spring in one end of an axle on one truck. It sort of acted like a brake. The spring increased the friction between axle and truck. My thought's are that tuning it right will allow it to roll without problems, yet still stop on a slight grade. I think I read that on this forum. I forget the thread name though...
anything to back this up?
The prototype used derails for protection. They were common at the ends of passings sidings and the beginning of spurs. If a railroad site had a passing siding and a spur, there would be 3 derails. If a railroad had a passing siding and a double-ended spur (which looks like a passing siding but is used to serve industries rather than train meets), there would be four derails. The variance in heights of tracks was due to differences in performance expectations and level of maintenance. Faster, heavier trains demanded heavier rail, higher density of ties, better drainage, etc.
Mark
Some sidings were lower so that freight cars left alone have to climb a few feet to get to the mainline switch.
Sometimes I wonder if the weeds were strong enough to hold an engine trying to spot such a car.