Dan,
I've always assumed your numbers were conservative, maybe even very conservative, but not having more accurate numbers, specifically for a Big Boy, I'm having a hard time deciding whether or not Dave should try to add elevations or just forget them. To that end, I made a more linear representation of his office mainline. I used Atlas track so I could cut a 40" down to 35" and use it for the sections. However, as John mentioned, the 35" includes the tender, which is really the same as another piece of rolling stock, so I suspect the real number is closer to 25" for just the engine.
What I got using 35, suggests Dave can only rise 1 1/8" to the yard on the right before he has to descend again in order to get back to 0" at the TT switches. That means the right yard will be 1 18" high and the left yard only 1/4" high. It also means his grade only gets to 1.4% before he has to taper off for the next easement.
Even if I change things to 25", the interim points change from .3%, .7%, 1.4% and 2%+ to .5%, 1% and 2%+. The right yard will be around 2", the left around 1/2" and a high grade of 2.2%. The grades without easements will only 0.8% and 1.1% respectively. I get that a large engine, like the Big Boy, can't navigate the 5% grade created by a Lionel trestle set because the front will hit, but can it really not navigate more than a .5% or 1% grade without easements?
Then I look at adding a piece of 1/2" foam under the left yard and a 2" piece under the right yard and I just don't see the point. If he could raise all the track along the top wall 3" or more, it might be worth it, but he can't. Maybe I'm just missing something. I like elevation changes, but I think they have to make sense.
