Seeing that screenshot, I think i'm your friend again james
No, but seriously. The way you put it like "disgusting" etc. was not nice. That was rude. And it's not disgusting as mainy NSW branch lines have tight yards like the way it is in branch line 2c.
So make up for it and post more screenies eh?
Haha. Ok. I admit it was a bit rude of me. It wasn't directed at Natvander, or anybody else - personally. 'Disgusting' just felt like the perfect word to describe them (the points/turnouts) at the time.
Flathog: I just did a little research on the grades in NSW. The steepest grades along the Main Western Line (which passes through Orange) are 1in33, and are also the steepest Mainline Grades in NSW.
The steepest Branchline grades were along the Camden Line (via Maitland) which were 1in20, but only for very short stints. The majority of steep grades were limited to 1in25.
To give you an example of what you can run on a 1in20 grade; in the steam era a train named the Camden Tram could only consist of a 20 Class tank engine, a FO suburban car and a CCA car (converted FO). This was the limit of the load on this line.
Once a year an 8 car set would be pulled to Camden for a festival, but would need three 30 Class tank engines to get it there, and only get it there very slowly.
In modern times grades are not so much of an issue for suburban electric lines because trains are only short with big power and low mass. But in places like Orange, the passing loops are reduced from 2km to 1.8km, which makes it an obvious point (to me) that grades aren't an issue.
Note: Passing loops are/were made longer in areas with steep undulations for safety.
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