Page 3 - March 2023 Track N Times

FEATURE STORY

Dangers of Mountain Grades

By Ralph Spicer, Manager, Operational Standards

In the railroad industry mountain grade is considered anything that exceeds 2.2% in elevation. To understand grade
let’s understand how grade is calculated. If you took a string that was 100 feet in length and had a person hold one
end on the ground and the other person would take the other end and stretch it tight and measure 12 inches up
that would equal 1% in elevation. If you raised it to 24 inches that would be 2% grade. So for every 12 inches rise in
100 feet equates to 1% in elevation.

Illustration of 1%

12 Inches
100 Feet

Illustration of 2%

24 Inches
100 Feet

Tribal Story Time

Shortly after I started my journey with the Loram outfit some 33 years ago the machine that I was on, RG8, was
to travel from our current location to Colorado Springs some 30 or so miles from where we were... Although I
was only with the outfit for a couple of months, my Superintendent asked me to accompany him in the A-cab for
the travel as the second Loram person in the cab. Little did I know that this was going to be my first induction to
the A-Cab operation as an observer in training. I was very quickly, and in short order focused on the concerned
look on my Superintendent’s face and the level of detail that was soon to follow.
Continued Page 2

Page 1 MARCH 2023