What is the max grade you would run for a large steam engin down hill with say 20 cars.
On a normal main line the “Max” grade would be kept to 1.5% by most RR’s. NS on the other hand did have a main line grade of 5.7%. But 1.5% is the norm.
Johnnny_reb,
Where do the have 5.7%?? I think this is a little bit much.
BTW, my WT RR has a max grade of about 1.7%. [:)]
Wolfgang
I was wrong its 5.6
4-6-6-4
Though it’s not really ‘official’, the general rule for a maximum grade was pretty much set at 2.2% by the B&O when it built over the Alleghenies in the 19th century. Of course there are mainlines with steeper grades built over the years–the Rio Grande had a 3% ruling grade over Tennessee Pass in Colorado, and Southern Pacific had a 3.6% over the Siskiyou Mountains when they built into Oregon in the 1880’s. And there’s the famous Saluda Grade on the Southern Railway, which is above 4%. Of these steeper grades, only the one over the Siskiyous is in current operation, and that may not last very long.
I know you are modeling Union Pacific from your other questions about Challengers and Big Boys on other posts, so I would think that you’d want to stick with grades of from 1.9% to about 2.2%, since from what I understand, that is pretty much the ruling grades in Wyoming and Utah, where the Challengers and Big Boys were used.
Hope this helps,
Tom [:)]
If I am not mistaken (but it has happened on rare occasions) The ex-PRR grade on the Madison, Indiana branch was 5.98%. This was the steepest in the country for a major railroad. For diesels the PRR bought two specially ballasted SD9s for this service. Steam engines used were usually 2-8-0s with the edict that they were to run tender first going down and engine first going up to ensure water on the crown sheet. Don’t know if in the CR break up this branch went to CSX or NS.