How much higher should the main line track be compared to the joining spur?
Main tracks are often 10 to 12 inches higher than parallel passing sidings and yard tracks. Spur tracks that curve away from a main line can go up or down as needed to suit the terrain and the industry being served. There’s really no typical difference in height of grade for spurs compared to main lines.
Best wishes,
Andy Sperandeo
MODEL RAILROADER Magazine
You may want to make enough difference to be noticeable; don’t make the drop more than your loco can take or so sharp that cars uncouple.
Spurs can drop quite a distance if the line is on an embankment. A long spur parallel to the main track may follow up and down the contours more than the level main line.
If you’re in flat country, the drop may be about the height of the mainline ballast.
David the Platelayer
As a rule of thumb, I try to make the vertical transition from mainline to siding over a distance at least 1-1/2 times longer than my longest car or locomotive.
John Timm
If you make the spur track different in terms of more weathering, more weeds, or thinner/different color ballast, it doesn’t matter if there is any difference in height at all. This year’s Great Model Railroads includes one of Ron Kuykendall’s layouts, which has all of the track [Code 100] fastened directly to wooden slab doors, no roadbed, and it’s still very effective. regards/mike
An easy way to achieve the "lower " spur (assuming you are using roadbed) - is to not apply the road bed to the spur. The mainline will be elevated by the roadbed while the spur will be closer to “ground level” -subtle but noticeable difference.
This is a great question, and here’s what I don’t understand about doing it on a model: If you want the the siding lowered 1 scale foot (~1/8") it would take 5 REAL feet of siding to get down to that level at a 2.5% grade, and another 5 REAL feet of siding to get back to mainline level. So you have a 10-foot siding that actually only gets 1 scale foot lower at one point and has some relatively steep grades.
Am I seeing this wrong?
I think that’s 5 REAL inches not feet for a 1/8" drop :).
And THIS is why I flunked out of engineering.
(Nevermind, everyone.)
(Thanks, gibbs.)