Acceptable grades

[torikoos]

Hi Lester, it's a little steep. Many people under estimate the space a low grade rise takes up.

Grades are easily calculated.
Your length / distance of 15 feet is 180 inches. (15 x 12).

The height you want to rise is 10". the formula to get the gradient in percentages is (height/distance) x 100.
In your case this gives (10/180) x 100 = 5.55%

A reasonable optimum is 2% , although a friend of mine uses a 4% maximum grade. To run this okay, he uses helper engines (a fun extra operational aspects) or additional head end power.
I'd say 2.5% to 3% is maximum for most people, the less the better.

As many people to not have the space in a trainroom to raise that much on a longer stretch, the helix was invented . That in itself takes up a lot of space, particularly if you use large radius track (and most people would to ensure a longer heavier train doesn't get pulled over(cars tipping over etc) ).

2% in a straight run would need a length of 500 inches or 41.5 feet of track! That is much easier achievable in a helix, than a straight stretch. (The above example of 4% needs half that )

Hope this helps.

Koos