Woodys Western Red Marble 1.5 Percent Grade (Discontinued)

As of May 28th, 2026 i have discontinued this mod due to the release of my Western Red Marble 1. 5 Percent Express Grade. I have chosen to leave this mod available for anyone who is interested in it but i have no plans to update it going forward.

After finishing my Eastern Red Marble 1. 5% Grade; I realized that if a 1. 5% route over the eastern side of Red Marble was possible, then surely a 1. 5% route down the West side of Red Marble would be a quick & easy project, right? Wrong. As it turned out, the lower portion between Rhodo & Andrews has numerous small hills & ridges to be navigated.

As a result of this, the routes ~18 mile right-of-way navigates 37 Bridges, 7 Viaducts, and 10 Tunnels while Ascending & Descending between Topton & Andrews. The route maintains a steady grade of 1. 5% for the entire duration with a peak gradient of 1. 6% on a couple of corners. Additionally, there is a siding located approximately 2/3's of the way up the hill to enable trains to stop and pass. The speed limit on the entire route is 25 Mph. Any higher & trains risk derailing on the 18 degree (or less) corners.

The shallower gradient of this route compared to the vanilla grade enables larger locomotives such as the B-65 & F-71 to haul decent tonnage over the line. In a test run, the vanilla F-71 was capable of hauling a combined 1700 tons (locomotive with Full Tender & Train) at a steady 25mph.

Large Modded Locomotives such as RCrockin's Chesapeake and Ohio T1 & Eilelwen's Great Northern M-2 (2-6-8-0) are even more capable. They're 106K & 107K TE can handle 2,000 tons respectively . However these heavy haulers still don't quite compare to Raiders Metal Monster's, RLW RMWF-1/2 JARL's, with the RMWF-2 Great Jarl having been tested to be able to haul 3,000 tons over the grade handily.

The following calculation is a rough guideline to determine what a locomotive can reasonably handle by itself:

Locomotive Tractive Effort (LTE) / 42 = Total Combined Tonnage (TCT)

TCT - Locomotive & Tender Tonnage (LTT) = Total Usable Tonnage (TUT)

Following this calculation the vanilla F-71 can handle a TCT of ~1700 tons& a TUT of ~1425 tons.

A note of caution for planning train movements over this line; Be aware of Fuel, Coal & Water consumption. In the F-71's test run, it consumed ~5. 5 tons of coal & ~7,000 gallons of water to make the climb. Because this route is ~2X longer than the vanilla Andrews to Topton grade, locomotives on fully loaded trains will spend noticeably longer at full throttle resulting in increased fuel/coal/water consumption. Additionally, locomotives running at full throttle for extended periods (such as ones climbing this grade) will experience varying levels of wear & tear (depending on your save settings). It is reccomended that you check the condition of locomoti