Re: Light rail gradients (and my fantasy Wollongong light rail system)

["Robert Lee" <robsl@ozemail.com.au>]

So I was just
>wondering - what is the maximum gradient that can be safely negotiated by
>your typical tram? Can more modern LRV's such as those used on the SLR get
>up steeper hills than, say, a Melbourne W-class? What's the maximum grade
on
>any tram system in Australia, current or historical? I'm pretty sure,
>historically, the steepest grade was Darling St. Balmain, Sydney, but that
>had a counterweight system under the road....
>

Darling Street did have a counterweight - you can see the street-level dummy
with which it was balanced at Loftus.  The steepest grade in Sydney was on
the Neutral Bay line, and this bids fair to be one of the steepest electric
tramways in the world.  I seem to remember it was something like 1 in 8.
There are similar grades in Lisbon.

If I were designing a tram system, though, I'd try to keep the grades under
control.  Trams really did grind up those steep grades slowly.  One of my
earliest memories is the very slow, noisy and bumpy progress up Wycombe Road
on K 1296.  I must have been about 3 or 4 at the time.  I think that's what
turned me into a rail enthusiast.  See, I was a perverted masochist even
then!  Even the Balmoral trams could be pretty slow, and I think the grade
there was about 1 in 15.

Btw, was there ever a curve and gradient diagram published of the Sydney
tramways?  I've never seen one, but of course never venture onto a train
 real one that is) without a copy of my NSWGR Curve and Gradient Diagram,
including all those long-closed branches.

Have fun with the Wollongong system!