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How to Make a Slope on a Model Railway

Planning and building your model railroad can provide you with hours of activity and a great sense of satisfaction, especially if you plan to include detail and unique dimensions to your layout. A popular dimension that many model railroaders like to add involves the gradation and heightening of tracks. Unfortunately, poorly planning or preparing these grades can lead to your model locomotives slipping, or even damaging themselves on the slope. Luckily, proper grading requires only modest investments of preparation and understanding.

Things You'll Need

Tape measure
Two-by-fours
Pencil
Box saw
Hammer
Thin 2-inch nails

Instructions

- 1
  Select your grade. Taking into account the strength of your locomotives and weight of the cars they will haul, settle on a grade between 4 and 1 percent.
- 2
  Plan your grade using the tape measure. A 1, 2, 3 or 4 percent grade will require 100 inches of track to ascend 1 inch, 2 inches, 3 inches or 4 inches of height, respectively. Therefore, a 1 percent grade, for instance, will require 1,200 inches of track (100 feet) to ascent 12 inches (1 foot). Use sections of two-by-fours or the pencil to mark the height and length of the slope.
- 3
  Use the tape measure, pencil and box saw to measure and cut lengths of two-by-fours for the slope. Cut a section each of the full height of the slope, three-fourths of the height of the slope, half the height of the slope and one-quarter the height of the slope. Place these sections at the respective locations along the slope. Use the tape measure to determine the exact positions: the full height section at the end of the slope, three-quarter height at three-fourths of the way down the slope, and so forth.
- 4
  Lay the track sections over the top of the two-by-fours, and use the hammer and nails to secure the track in place. Do not hammer the nails all the way into the lumber, or else it may be too difficult to remove them later.
- 5
  Use the sloping material of your choice to fill in the gaps between the two-by-four supports.

Model Railroads