Southern Ry. Saluda Grade

[Dave V]

...Step 3: realize On30 Tweetsie was your passion all along and commit fully to that.   

We need more manpower in the Railwire's Narrow Gauge Mafia!

[PiperguyUMD]

...Step 3: realize On30 Tweetsie was your passion all along and commit fully to that.   

We need more manpower in the Railwire's Narrow Gauge Mafia!

Go big or go home!  White Pass and Yukon in Nn3!

[davefoxx]

...Step 3: realize On30 Tweetsie was your passion all along and commit fully to that.   

We need more manpower in the Railwire's Narrow Gauge Mafia!

Haha!  I've been there before.  But, as I just posted on the Seaboard Central 2.0 thread, there's also this:



Anybody who doesn't like this hates freedom. 

DFF

[narrowminded]

Go big or go home!  White Pass and Yukon in Nn3!

I have a brake shoe from that railroad.  Campsite next to the tracks at the Skagway end.  Brake shoes and air hoses dropped where they were changed.  It was 1984 and during one of the brief shutdowns.  What a gem those roads are.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Act fast.
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Atlas-Master-Line-N-40002325-EMD-GP38-2-Locomotive-p/atl-40002325.htm

[Chris333]

Thread needs moar trackplan!

[davefoxx]

Thread needs moar trackplan!

This pretty much sums it up: 



DFF

[Chris333]

But how do you plan that out on a shelf. Do you plan scale grades like that?

[davefoxx]

But how do you plan that out on a shelf. Do you plan scale grades like that?

I would absolutely go to prototypical four to five percent grades to keep from cheating during ops.  Remember, my trains would be a lot shorter, and it would be a lot of fun to calculate what each locomotive in my fleet was capable of pulling to try to get up the hill without stalling.  I have a three percent grade on the Seaboard Central 2.0.  An Atlas Geep can pull about six or seven cars up that hill soloing. 

If I were to build it, I would try to calculate the elevation (run/rise) and allow for that in the construction of the benchwork and risers.  You know, stair-step the benchwork around the room.

DFF

[mcjaco]

Go with a no-helix design! 

This is my buddies layout in Milwaukee.  One continuous grade throughout the whole layout,

http://www.nfwrailroad.com/index.html

[nuno81291]

If this is a around the room shelf affair, the subject matter seems to lend itself to a Nolix style double deck layout, stretch that run out as long as possible and model staging points beyond the grade. Would be very cool; I am a big fan of grades and it is a subject modeled few and far between on most layouts... hope we are seeing some track plans soon 

[Cajonpassfan]

Not to put a wet blanket on this, I like mountain running as much as anyone and Saluda is a kickass grade, but is there anything else to do up top or on the bottom? Locals, industries, variety? Devoting the whole room to the grade might get boring really soon...
Just saying....
Otto K.

[Dave V]

I'm excited to see a new layout in the planning stages, but like others here I'm ignorant as to what sort of operations this layout would provide other than the obvious "doubling" or "tripling" of a train on the up grade.  Was it all through traffic?  Also, would you want a helix at the top of the grade to put the train back down at the bottom again?  Then again, with such grades, sitting back and lettin 'em run is probably not going to be a thing anyway.

[Chris333]

What about Southern's Murphy branch? I remember that from back in MR.

[crrcoal]

What might be boring to one could be exciting to another!
I think there is enough scenic interest that would keep Dave happy. Modeling the town would be really cool. And then the specific details such as the runaway tracks. In addition to the grade, the scenery would completely dominate. Ops wise; helpers, doubling the train, etc.. would keep him busy. With the new Loksound full throttle, he could run the trains just like the Saluda instructional video. Staging would be a must. I think this layout has a ton of potential.

Not to put a wet blanket on this, I like mountain running as much as anyone and Saluda is a kickass grade, but is there anything else to do up top or on the bottom? Locals, industries, variety? Devoting the whole room to the grade might get boring really soon...
Just saying....
Otto K.