Using an i-phone as a tool to measure grades

[Fluesheet]

Here's what I found on MicroMark for $6.49

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Okay.... I need one of those for sure thanks for the link Shaun

I have one of those and didn't find it useful for measuring grades. For the grades that are appropriate for railroads, the needle barely moves away from vertical - the difference between a 3% and 6% grade on the dial is very small.

A better solution (which I've also used) is to take a laser level, set it up on your track so that it is level, then set up a "target" at some known distance down the track. This will show how much drop there is over that distance from which you can calculate your grade.

One advantage this method has over both the Micromark gauge and the iPhone is that it averages the drop over a larger distance; a 5 foot section of track with an average grade of 2%, with a 4" section of 6% grade. As long as it doesn't affect trains, that spike is irrelevant. Meanwhile, I'm spending a couple of hours fixing that short section of steep grade just because I know it's there!measure how much drop you have

A disadvantage of the laser level method is that measuring grads on curves becomes probematical, especially if you have a bunch of scenery along the right of way that would block the beam.

Matt