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The term ruling grade is usually used as a synonym for "steepest climb" between two points on a railroad. More simply, the steepest grade to be climbed dictates how powerful the motive power (or how light the train) must be in order for the run to be made without assistance. Even if 99% of the line could be run with a low-powered (and inexpensive) locomotive, if at some point on the line there is a steeper gradient than such train would be able to climb, this gradient "rules" that a more powerful locomotive must be used, in spite of it being far too powerful for the rest of the line. This is why special "helper engines" (also dubbed "Bankers") are often stationed near steep grades on otherwise mild tracks. It is cheaper than running a too-powerful locomotive over the entire track mileage just in order to make the grade, especially when multiple trains run over the line each day (to help justify the fixed daily cost of the helper operation).
In the 1953 edition of Railway Engineering William H. Hay says "The ruling grade may be defined as the maximum gradient over which a tonnage train can be hauled with one locomotive....The ruling grade does not necessarily have the maximum gradient on the division. Momentum grades, pusher grades, or those that must regularly be doubled by tonnage trains may be heavier." This means the "ruling grade" may change if the management chooses to operate the railroad differently.
Hay says "The ruling grade may be defined as the maximum gradient over which a tonnage train can be hauled with one locomotive....The ruling grade does not...
steep gradients on railways avoids the expensive engineering work required to produce more gentle gradients. However the maximum feasible gradient is limited...
distance of the track. The allowable gradients may be based on the rulinggradient which is the maximum gradient over which a tonnage train can be hauled...
(318 ft). The route has a gradient of 1:12.5 up to Coonoor, and past Coonoor to the final station the track has a rulinggradient of 1:23. The Kalka–Shimla...
Vijayawada division of SCoR. This is an important mineral route with rulinggradient of 1 in 60 with some block sections prone for stalling of loaded freight...
drawbar horsepower at 41.4 mph. Designed to haul 3,600 tons up the 1.14% rulinggradient over this subdivision, the tests demonstrated that a Big Boy could...
Britain to 1830 List of rack railways List of steepest gradients on adhesion railways Rulinggradient Slippery rail Slope car Jehan, David (2003). Rack Railways...
Funicular Grade (slope) Incline elevator Rack railways Reaction ferry Rulinggradient San Francisco cable car system Steep grade railway Carrington D.C....
longitudinal rulinggradient of 1 in 40 from either end, joined by a vertical curve of radius 4,000 feet (1,200 m). The cross gradient of deck is 1 in...
Tunnels Greenway. The tunnel had a gradient of 1 in 50, on a line where the rulinggradient was also 1 in 50. "Image gradient profile". Two Tunnels Shared Path...
elevation differences with grades suitable for steam engines, the rulinggradient being 1 in 50. When the first sections of the NIMT were built, there...
The length of this road is 5,660 feet and the rulinggradient 2 in 40, while the steepest gradients being 1 in 20 make it available for rickshaw traffic...
locomotives. It was built with a 1.7% (1:58.8) gradient eastbound, which was too close to the rulinggradient of 2.2%. Because of the steepness of the line...
Stephenson was determined that the route would have minimal gradients and curves; the rulinggradient on the line is 1:330. Stephenson took advantage of natural...
extra track effectively double the length of the climb and reduce the rulinggradient to 2.2%. The new distance between Field and Wapta Lake, where the track...
200 m (3,900 ft) (800 m or 2,600 ft at difficult locations) Maximum (ruling) gradient: 1.85% (1 in 54) Length of arrival & departure track at passing loops:...
ran an inspection train from Edinburgh to the site. The line had a rulinggradient of 1 in 50.[page needed] The contract for the construction of the reservoir...
Queensland through Richmond Gap. The railway line climbs at a steady rulinggradient from Kyogle to the summit at a tunnel at the border between the two...
company. There was a 647-yard (592 m) tunnel near Marlborough and the rulinggradient was 1 in 100, markedly easier than over the Marlborough Railway. The...
9 kg/m) rails, but were upgraded to 42 lb/yd (20.8 kg/m) rails. The rulinggradient is 1:20 (five percent), with tight curves, and speed is limited to...
although this is where some of the steepest gradients on the line are to be found. The rulinggradient of the line is 1 in 60. More local halts follow...
via the Parnepettia Pass, with a total length of 127 km (79 mi), a rulinggradient of one in 60, with a short Tunnel at an estimated cost of £856,557...
proportion of adhesive weight were well suited to coping with the 1 in 50 rulinggradient on the Bath extension. On one occasion, a 9F was set to haul an express...
related to Combe Down Tunnel. List of tunnels in the United Kingdom Rulinggradient#Other tunnels "Two Tunnels Greenway". Twotunnels.org.uk. Archived from...
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