Grade rate of decsent ?

W

wickman

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Dec 8, 2005
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Ontario canada
I'm wandering is it a common practice to have an increased grade and then ease
it off a bit once the bench work cross members have been cleared this is for
decending to below bench top elevation to a below table staging area. I have my
staging area descending track going down to a -18.5" level ( its 18.5" below
bench level) decaneding at 2.5 %.
I'm wandering is it practical to start with say a 2.8 - 3.0 % grade so to clear
the bench sooner? Or is a better practice to keep a steady grade all the way
down? I realize that I have to cut away a certain ammount of cross member ends
as it is.
You can see in the pic where I begin in the lower right. If I were to increase
my grade to 3% upto the point where I show the -5".
Will there be any dire effects going from 3% then to a 2.5% ?
The blue outline denotes part of the base for the yrd by the way.
 
Even a 2.5% grade is going to tax your locos going uphill, particularily in the 4' wide section near the bottom: that 22" radius will have the effect of increasing the apparent grade. The same thing will apply near the other end of the grade: even though the radius appears to be larger, the "S" curve will have a detrimental effect on your loco's pulling power.
Is the staging yard going to be a visible part of the layout? If not, there should be no need to build it that far below the layout. All you really need is enough room to be able to reach in over top of the trains in case of derailments, etc.

Wayne
 
Theoretically, I suppose if trains only even go "down" this slope, you could have it a bit steeper, but you will need the "vertical easements" to make sure there are no problems with the transition to the grade.

However, if there is even a remote possibility that trains will have to come up this grade, I would say forget it, and just make a nice gentle grade all the way.

Andrew
 
Thanks Guys
yes the grade will be for both up and down. I think my best bet is a steady 2.5 % grade all the way to the bottom. Seeing as I can make the staging yard as far down as opportunity allows I think I will stick to an 18" below bench all the upper bench framing is 1x4 which limits access to the yard and declining track and seeing as the decline will be to the back of the around the wall bench work I may need to reach way back for one reason or another and the clearance will be needed. Seeing as the upper bench work is not open grad type but is plywood ontop I'm faced with the challenge of prefitting the 1x3 pine that I will be using for the under track roadbed which seeing as there's not alot of room to work should make for interesting job. I think I will use the 1x3 pine for a base then cork ontop of that then the rail. Each rail has to be joined to the next as a prefit taken apart then one at a time put into place ...I suppose I better run the wire to the rails at the same time
Speaking of which is 22 guage telephone wire ok for dcc considering the size of this layout ?
 
At 2.5%, going down 18" will require a run of about 60 feet... which you do not have. Looks like you have just over half of that...

As for constructing the lower level, can you do it before the upper deck, or remove the plywood at least at get better access?

And telephone wire is not great for DCC. It will work, but since it is solid, you run the risk of breaks everywhere you have stripped the wire. Also, 22 gauge is not sufficient for long distances. For that you should have a bus wire of 12 ga or so. Feeders can be smaller.

Andrew
 
MasonJar said:
At 2.5%, going down 18" will require a run of about 60 feet... which you do not have. Looks like you have just over half of that...


Andrew
Click to expand...
I beg to differ with you Andrew according to the plan the software is in I have presicely 60.916 feet of declining track :) But I think a continuous 2.5 % grade may work the best. The top bench work is glued and screwed from last years layout so removing the top is out of the question although as the plan shows each section can be pulled away to work the ends of the adjusting grade which really helps
 
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