Railway line gradient maps

[igloo]

Hi all,

Are there any (public) maps of railway line gradients anywhere?

I'm thinking of something along the lines of the attached image, with distance down the line on the x-axis, height above sea level on the y-axis, and the positions of stations (and perhaps other interesting locations) indicated.


Thanks
Ian

 

[kjhskj75]

There were sets published decades ago, which sometimes get reprinted (mine date from 1947). Try Ebay, Amazon, Abebooks, ukbookworld.com etc.

 

[IrishDave]

The only source I know of is this book of BR Gradient Profiles: http://www.amazon.co.uk/BR-Main-Line-Gradient-Profiles/dp/0711008752

I picked up a copy at Railfest at the NRM in June for a fiver, which judging by Amazon was rather good value. It's pretty good, with strip maps marked with mileposts and gradients drawn and labelled in detail. The West Highland line is slightly larger scale than the rest.

Beware that it really is "in the age of steam": while most of the major mainlines are included, it also includes things like Ruabon-Barmouth and Exeter-Okehampton-Tavistock-Plymouth which have long since closed. It also excludes some of the less important branch lines, particularly in the south-east.

 

[Ploughman]

The North Eastern Railway association produce a copy for former NER lines.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2HOpNjaOs_rSUEzU1JKOG1USHUxazJpUjhtenEwZw/edit?pli=1
Towards the bottom of the page NER Gradient sections.

 

[asylumxl]

If you have a smart phone you could attempt to produce your own using GPS logging software. I'm sure many people will comment on accuracy of GPS, but TBH, the old "official" gradient maps are usually inaccurate anyway...

 

[caliwag]

Apart from the official ones, The railway magazine published them, well main line ones. Mine is a reprint from 1938, first published 1936...sort of nice to have: hand drawn, like all the official stuff pre-computer.

I picked mine up in an expensive but very useful second hand shop in York: Ken Spelman, since you ask, but you can get them in varying ages and conditions on abebooks.co.uk here's an example from the cheaper end...

http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/B...n=gradients+of+the+british+main+line+railways

 

[Ploughman]

When I have been out on the track surveying, the occasions that the gradient on the plot actually matched or got anywhere near the official gradient was very few indeed.
To be honest I can think of only one time when it matched nearly exactly and that was Bowling Tunnel to Bradford Interchange at 1 - 50.

 

[The Informer]

I dont know about public availability but check this out. The green line at the bootom represents gradients.

 

[The Planner]

Thats a 5 mile diagram, never seen them released to the public.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

Given the information they contain (although not in that PDF) I'm surprised as well...

 

[The Informer]

Thats a 5 mile diagram, never seen them released to the public.

Yes. And that's why its just a little teaser.

 

[Ploughman]

Have they finally got all lines covered by them or are there still gaps?
The amount of times when I was planning jobs that were you wanted to work the 5 mile diagram was missing.

 

[The Informer]

Have they finally got all lines covered by them or are there still gaps?
The amount of times when I was planning jobs that were you wanted to work the 5 mile diagram was missing.

Good question, I don't really know.

 

[asylumxl]

Good question, I don't really know.

I'm not an insider or anything, but from surveyors I know, they're still busy working away to fill in the blanks.

 

[150219]

Good question, I don't really know.

I stand to be corrected, but I believe they had ceased to be supported as a 'going concern' a couple of years ago.

Work was being concentrated on a piece of software that created automated diagrams based on the records available from the asset register, although the initial output that I had seen needed a lot of work to make it useable.

 

[Bevan Price]

All former Midland Railway lines appear in Midland Railway System Maps, Volume 6, The Gradient Diagrams. See:-

http://www.midlandrailway.org.uk/history/distance-diagrams

Out of print, but (for example) 2nd hand copies on sale at Amazon.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=midland+railway+system+maps&tag=googhydr-21&index=stripb


For other railways, gradient profiles sometimes appear in books dealing with rail history.

e.g., For all ex-L&YR lines, see Vols ! & 2 of the John Marshall history of that railway.
For ex-GCR lines, see George Dow's 3 volume history of that railway.

Both out of print, but 2nd hand sometimes seen at rail exhibitions, etc., or your local library may be able to get you a loan copy.