Re: Roaring Camp & Big Trees steep grades reality or a myth?

I've run and fired at Roaring Camp. The 8 1/2 (actually 8.48)% grade is a fairly short stretch just below Grizzly Flats. The engines indeed get down and pull HARD on that stretch. Wide open throttle, Johnson Bar down about halfway, lots of sand. I had to start a train on it a couple of times. It wasn't very easy. The switchback is indeed steeper. 9-10% would not surprise me at all. It is a wide open - in the corner - give it all you've got - shove. The weight of the train being up and behind you actually gives you a bit extra bite on the rail, and I never slipped going up the switchback.

There are lots of legends about how the track was laid at RC. One story is that the line was initially surveyed at a constant 4%, but Norman Clark, the founder, wanted to hear his engines really work hard and insisted on the stretch of 8 1/2%. There is spot a ways beyond that where the grade eases off to nearly level.

Also, tonnage ratings are what the builders guaranteed the engine could START on a grade. Once moving they pull more that they can start.