Have Grade Question

Well, 5% grade is the steepest railroad grade I have made on even spurs and secondary lines (I have done 10-11% on Superstreets), which would mean a one foot rise would be twenty feet. And I have never gone over 3% on my mainlines (33 feet).

 However, a mine is in the rugged hills usually and you have powerful cars towing a light train so it might actually be fun to try a real grade: no one would think realistic a 10% grade on a mainline with F3s pulling streamline passenger cars up them, but a mine?  Yeah, it would look okay. If a test proves they will pull up a 10% grade and around the curves, too, it might be fun to do it.

Grade discussion Oct 25, 2012 on the 2-rail forum.

This is why I like having some sectional track.  You can mock up your proposed grade with some foam sheets (Yah, I know they're hard to get on Maui.)  But you could approximate the hills and the grade without having to build the benchwork.  Just a thought.