In building an incline what is the most practical 2, 3 or 4 %. I know this is a personal preference. My question based more on the trains ability to negotiate the rise. Also if one uses the Woodland scenics foam do you need to use both starters and inclines or just incline kits?
I’ve used both the 2 and 4 at one time… The 2 is easier to negotiate. i would use the incline starters . They are a lot easier than wood working. I have almost no skills but I’m getting better!
RMax
Common grades on the prototype main lines were 2% or less, if possible. I had a 4% on my layout when I started and recently converted it to 2% as I discovered I liked hauling longer trains. The prototypes did have some grades going up to 4% and sometimes greater, in the beginnings. These companies did all they could to reduce the grades as time went on, as they could gain efficiency by doing so. Steep grades make the use of helper services warrented, which could be considered an operational benefit. If your modeling logging and mining roads, you can use much steeper grades.
The longer the train, the heavier it gets & you’ll need more locomotives to move the trains up the grade.
As Mark said, this could be a good operational benefit to have to use helpers up the grade.
The grades on my layout average about 3.5%.
I’m not using long trains so I know I’m not going to have a problem with them, even my IHC 4-6-2 hauling 5 Athearn passenger cars has no problem negotiating either steep grade & both of them are on a curve.
All but one incline I’ve used 1x4 for the risers & plywood for the base using the ‘cookie-cutter’ technique.
The other incline I’m using Woodland Scenics 4% incline just to see how it works.
It worked rather well for what I need it for.
I use the incline kit from Woodland Scenics. The 4% kit has all the pieces necessary to get up to the point of being able to cross another track with pleny of clearance.
I hope this helps.
Gordon
You can build one out of 1 1/2 or 2 inch pink foam, you can even cut thin wedges out of the sides and curve it like the ones from woodlandscenics below is how you figure out grade percentage:
100 multipled by Vertical Rise divided by Horizontal Distance = %grade
example: 100x3(inches)=300 divided by 72 (inches) = 4.16% grade
have fun
The grades on my layout are about 4%, and let me state this is not a good Idea as the train goes up the hill way to slow and comes down the hill way to fast. I usually haul about 7 cars up the hill and it gets anyoing. make it a slight grade and not to steep.[2c][2c]
Noah[:p]
I’m up to 5% and I’m having to either use double headers or the Allegheny or FEF-3. My Big Boy can’t do it. I am able to haul upto 60 cars but if I jerk the consist, cars go everywhere but down the track. It 's real ugly.
My advice is if you can keep your incline to 3% max you will make life easier for your self.
To get a nice flat even incline I used Woodland Scenics foam risers, with cork road bed. in areas where the incline went from 0 to 2%+ I let the track curve up gently and filled in the gap between the track and road bed with ballast. Another method for long straight inclines is to use a strip of soft wood (3/16 x 1.5") under the cork this also keeps everything even.
I use a long straight edge on it’s end to check for lumps and bumps along the incline and I use a level to ensure the track is flat on the straights.
On my new layout I decided to go with flatter grades, 1.5% max and I’m very glad I did. I model flatter country than most (north Texas) and that makes this easier for me as does the size of my layout (16X17 around the walls with penninsula). I am very satisfied with the operation at this grade however.
Ron
I trimmed a series of acurately measured wedges from the side of a 1/2 " blue board sheet. I glued them next to each other to create the incline and then ran the cork roadbed on top of them. 3 wedges spaced slightly apart provided enough for a single track. I took care to make easement curves into the incline at the top and bottom to aid transition from the flat. What I liked about this method was that I had to put a turnout (Peco curved) on the incline and I was able to bend and glue the wedges splayed apart to create the shape for this. It works very well with no proplems with the turnout. My inclines are less than 2%