Using an i-phone as a tool to measure grades

[Fluesheet]

Impressive application of technology! I don't even know how to turn one of those things one!

indeed!

Ralph

Impressive might be a stretch, but certainly a fun application!

I have a fair amount of friends that have the phone, but I really didn't "get it" as far as the power of the device until I got it home and started poking at it.

A interesting learn from this whole experiment is that short stretches of 3% - 4% grade aren't a *huge* problem operationally. I have several spots on the layout that I've never considered overly steep that turned out to be in the 3.5 - 4.1% range - which SOUNDS steep. The caveat here is that those stretches were not that long.

The implications for the next layout are huge - I've been designing a hill that averages 1.5% and that tops out at 2%. I can probably increase the former by .5% and the latter by 1% (2 and 3% respectively) without impacting my operating druthers. Especially if I keep a ruling 3% on a straight.

Matt