Prior Message on Hill

[Royalhaw]

I have just done some calculations for my rise to the rear hill. The circumference of a circle is found by multipling 3.141 times the diameter. So a 15" radius would have a circumference of 94.2 inches (30x3.141). Thus the half circle length is 47.1 inches. Now the percent grade is: rise divided by distance. If the rise is 4" and the distance from the start of the rise is just the 1/2 circle then the grade would be 8.5% (4/47.1). Bad percent of grade for a normal train? What is the best grade for a normal train; diesel or steam?

 

[diburning]

3% max for model trains. Prototype was typically less than 3% although in some rare cases, it pushed 4 or 5%

 

[Royalhaw]

Thank you for the info. It has been very helpful. It means I need to get a 3% grade to be realistic so that would require a rise of 1.4" for a half circle of 15" radius (% x distance = rise) [0.03 x 47.1 = 1.4"]. Therefore my starting point, the track at the front of the layout, since it will run up only about 50" will need to start about 1.5" below the hight on the top of the hill. Maybe I could get by with a 2" rise in a run of 50" which would give me a 3.6% grade. Thank you again for you info......