Lionel used to recommend no grade greater than 2%, but that is not practical unless you have a huge layout. For example using a Lionel trestle set in a simple figure eight you need to achieve 4.75" clearance to run one track over another. At a 2% grade you would need a run of 225 inches (nearly 19 feet) to rise 4.75 inches. I have a postwar layout with an outer loop (no curves tighter than O72) that has two grades, one 3% and one nearly 3.5%. My old SantaFe 2353 diesel races up those hills easily pulling ten passenger cars. Small steam locos 2-6-2 can still pull four or five cars up these hills, but need close to max voltage to do it. I ewould say a 4% grade would be the absolute max but 3% seems to work just fine.
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