Which grade is the steepest that you know about in US on a regular railroad (not counting clog rails and stuff like that) on:
a) mainline owned by major RR companies
b) on any other secondary railroad
note: it doesn’t have to exist anymore, as long as it is from about 40’s till now
Saluda NC 4.7% is the steepest one in the US
Where is it? Who owns the tracks?
Norfolk Southern (ex-Southern)
Saluda NC (south of Asheville)
Saluda is on the line between Spartainburg SC and Ashville NC.The line was originaly owned by the Southern Railway,now Norfolk Southern.
I believe the steepest grade still in use is Raton pass on the old Santa Fe line of BNSF.Raton is 3.5%.
The steepest secondary line was the Pennsylvania Railroad branch out of Madison Indiana.This was sold to a short line some time ago. It is 5.1%.
The Delaware and Hudson line has a hill that is nasty. I almost had my train runaway from me on it. (more for info aim or email me)
Not Salisbury and Asheville, but Spartanburg SC and Asheville. The Salisbury line has “The Loop’s”, near Old Fort and Ridgecrest. Steep, but not as steep as Saluda.
BTW, didn’t I read that the Saluda grade had been out of use for a few years?
…Yes, the Saluda grade is under an imbargo status {I believe they call it}, not abandoned but out of service since roughly 2001…And it is a steep one…as above post mentioned at 4.7%…believe there is a very short stretch of it at about 5.1…I’ve been there and looked at it with my own eyes and could hardly believe I was looking at a main line railroad as steep as it really is…It’s that awesome…!
…If any above posters are interested: Check on Google and enter…“Saluda railroad grade” for more info and some photos…
The final grade to the Boeing plant is at least 5% if not a bit more. I’m not sure how you’d qualify it as it is a siding.
The Uintah Railway is a good bet. A short line in Utah built to haul Gilsonite, an asphalt like substance. I think it is recognized as having the steepest grade for a standard rail system (non-cog). IIRC, it had grades around 10-13% and hairpin turns. I’m just going by memory on the grade so I may be off on the actual %. They had some articulated saddle-tank steam locomotives, not sure if they used any geared locos.
There is a book called The Gilsonite Route (long OOP) documenting the line. The pictures are amazing–you wouldn’t think a locomotive could manage those grades which look like rollar coasters.
BTW, for a little information on the Saluda grade, there is a TRAINS magazine aout mountain railroading, I believe the December 2003 issue, it’s one of my favorites. Has some silhouetted locos smoking up a grade on the cover.
According to one website on the history of the Uintah Railway, the Baxter Pass grade is a five-mile 7.5 % grade, with curves up to 65 degrees in curvature:
Also, the Lewis Hill grade just west of Troy, NC on the Aberdeen, Carolina & Western Railway (former old Norfolk Southern) is 4%. Currently that portion of the line only sees light engine movements, but within a year or less will have 40 to 50 car rock unit trains traversing it.
According to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, the Madison, IN grade is 5.89%:
http://www.ChildrensMuseum.org/themuseum/allaboard.htm
From my research, I believe that grade is currently part of the Madison Railroad, a municipal railway owned by the City of Madison:
Unfortunately, the Madison “Hill” section has not been used in a very long time. The rails are still there but over growing with brush and trees.
Thanks for that link and setting me straight. I knew it had brutal grades but somehow 10% seemed a bit extreme!
Raton’s steepest grade is 4.03% at Morley (remains of old CF&I Coal Mine overburden pile & company town still exist) on the Colorado side. 3.5% is an averaged “fiction” (operating department?) for the whole hill , which is somewhat stepped up and down in grade. Both main tracks at this point got new steel this year, see two Amtraks and 4 freight trains. (What happens now with the 100 miles sold around Albuquerque will be interesting to watch)
Uintah RR (long gone, UT/CO line in the Book Cliffs) had the ugliest grades and curves, 7.5 % grade & 66-75 degree curves to get to a mine that produced asphalt products (gilsonite)…it died in late 1939 and was gone by 1940 - Ironically, this area will be a starting point for the planned railroad to Vernal, UT…
Isn’t that grade essentially a straight line up the hill from the town?
My memory is from long ago but I seem to recall you could see the R of W running straight up the hill when you crossed the river. I also remember an artillery proving grounds on the plateau north of town.
Dale