Grade Model Train Guide - How Steep Can I Go?

You may find yourself eager to include an inclining hill with track for your model train to climb up, and if so you will need to understand the grade that your model train will be able to handle. This guide will explain some things that you need to consider before jumping in and throwing your track together with a slope.

If you want to add a nice variation, something you may have been considering lately is to add elevated places for your train to travel in your layout. But the question is how steep a slope can you get away with?

You don't want to stress out the workload of your little model train, so figuring out the grade scale that it will be able to travel up is important.

In the real world grades are calculated by percentage, but that's kind of tricky for smaller scale items. So instead we will think of our grade in terms of inches to make it easier.

The rule of thumb is that for every 100 inches, 2 inch grade is recommended. Think of this as being the 2% if it were real. In other words, if you had a track incline of about 100 inches, then the slope should not be elevated more than 2 inches at the top. It should rise by the two inches across the entire one hundred.

Some experts have explained to me that you might be able to get away with a 4%, or 4" grade depending on the speed and model type of the train set.

Another thing that you have to think about is a curved track, which is very common to include an elevation with curvature. Understand that when a train goes around a curved track it does require more work for the model and more weight is added to grip the rails, so when you throw a steep climb into the mix, this can add to the stress.