How steep can a hill be for model locos?
On small layouts such as 4′ X 8′ plywood sheets it is probably easier to keep all your track flat. The reason for this is that there is little room left to have track turnouts to yards and sidings if some track is higher than other sections. (TT solves this quite well) A bigger layout with longer straights allows climbs and descents with room remaining for other features. For HO you can rise 3cm in every 100cm or 3%. The percentage works in both metric and imperial so an 8′ board is approximately 100″ long by the time you consider track curves. To climb 3″ from one end, over another train at the far end, and down to the starting level leaves little chance to include a turnout towards other linked features. I read once that a 2-3% rise halves the pulling power of your loco. So if you have a budget loco (starter set loco) and a large number of cars in your train the smaller 2% might be your maximum gradient. On the other hand – if you have a top class loco (sold as a separate unit with a
