im lookin to run 1 track about 7" above the other it will start to rise on a curve if possible how steep can you make it and at what distance before it levels out never did it before thanks
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Honest Answer:
It Depends - On what you are running for engines and loads.
To figure the length and steepness of the grade:
One inch rise per 100" of track is a 1% grade, which will take a loooong ways to get to 7" rise. (58+1/3 feet)
Remember you can't go from flat to much of a grade in a kink, you have to fade in and out on the ends. So add up to 3 feet to each end for that.
A 4% grade to 6" (get the last inch on the fade in / out) will take 150" of track, or 12.5 Feet plus the fade in and out of the grade.
Total, 18.5 feet for a 4% grade to 7" rise.
Now, most of our trains can run steeper if needed but many will say it looks wrong.
Test the Train you want to run on a long 1X4. Put 8' 3" of the board from the pivot point. Raise the end 7" and see if the train can pull itself up the grade. That's a 7% grade. (8' 3" is 100")
If it's a long train, use a longer board and hang the extra length off the end of the bench so you are using 8' 3" for the 7" rise.
Somewhere between 2% and 7% will fit for you.
Work it from there, Steepest grade you can stand Versus distance to climb the height.
Please understand, a curve adds load to the grade, add at least 1% to the effective grade for drag on the curve.
I did that on two locations on my layout. One is approx. 22 feet long with the bottom starting on 1/4 of a 072 inch curve.
The other is approx. 25 feet long and at the top end of a 072 inch curve. The top 10 feet, which is in the 072 curve is at a lower % angle.
Coming up hill my trains slow down just like the real 1 to 1 scale trains. I run 1 powered engine and 1 or more dummy engines and 10 to 15 scale cars in each train.
You will be happiest with it if you can limit your grades to 2% or less. That's 2' of rise in every 100" of length. You can run just about anything on it and it doesn't look like a toy train grade in my opinion. So to go up 7" you need a run 350" or about 30 feet. I realize that not everyone has that much room, but that will work the best if you can.
Art
My own rule is to never go over 3% grade on a straight and to try to stay at 2.5%, which means 7" would take you 280" or 23.5 feet. But, I deduct 1% on 72" curves (i.e., I will only go 2%), 1.5% on 54" (only 1%), 25 on 45" and I do not do grades on 36 and tighter radius. This reduction in grade is based on tests of locos - they vary into if and how they slow down in curves - many slow noticeably in 36" curves - when I tested them about as much as on 36" curves, so . . . and while approximate because they vary but I felt this would get me tolerable performance and it seems to have. .
