Sidings Off Of Grades

[3030RICK]

hope i'm not repeating this. i'm worried about trying to build a level siding off an o gauge grade that is at 2.5%. the grade is 32 feet long and the siding is about 90 inches long. the siding will service a passenger station and i would like it to be level for about 50 inches, somewhat in the middle. problem is, the grade going out will be greater than the 2.5% to catch up with the main track. would it be best to forget the siding as being level and make it the same grade as the main track? the passenger station has to be level.do proto sidings actually grade beside stations?

 

[Ronzzr11]

How about cutting away the slope, so that the siding sits level for its whole length?.you would need a retaining wall around the station, but it would look better I think.

Ronzzr11

 

[UP2CSX]

I think I already answered this question. Regardless of how level the siding is, you need to get back to the mainline. The station being level doesn't solve that problem. For every 100 inches of run, you have a 1% grade. You will have about 40 inches of run, so the grade will be about 2.5%. You will be rejoining a track which is already on a 2.5% grade. That makes the effective total grade about 5%, which is way too steep for mainline passenger trains. The only answer is to either have the station directly on the grade with no sidings or move the station to a spot where the grade is less. Even if the station is located directly next to the mainline, restarting an upbound train of more than two or three passenger cars without a helper maybe difficult or impossible depending on the tractive effort of your engine