Track gradients around Sutton

[Bayum]

Just been watching some videos of trains at Sutton. It appears there are some quite steep gradients on the line via Wimbledon and one of the lines coming up to Sutton. How steep are these please?

 

[DelW]

Just been watching some videos of trains at Sutton. It appears there are some quite steep gradients on the line via Wimbledon and one of the lines coming up to Sutton. How steep are these please?

Well, I think that the line between Sutton and West Sutton was nicknamed the "Wall of Death", but that may have been for its curvature rather than its steepness.

 

[Bevan Price]

Try here:

RailwayData | Line Files & Gradient Profiles

Line files and gradient profiles for the Great British Railway network.

www.railwaydata.co.uk

 

[snowball]

How long has that site existed?

 

[Magdalia]

Well, I think that the line between Sutton and West Sutton was nicknamed the "Wall of Death", but that may have been for its curvature rather than its steepness.

West Sutton to Sutton is indeed the Wall of Death.

The climb is steep from Hackbridge through Carshalton up to Sutton too. That's table S7 in the old Ian Allan Gradient Profiles book and is 1/96 then 1/86.

Try here:

RailwayData | Line Files & Gradient Profiles

Line files and gradient profiles for the Great British Railway network.

www.railwaydata.co.uk

Thanks for this link. However, looking at the Wimbledon to Sutton gradient profile, I doubt that the vertical scale is correct. I think Sutton is a lot more than 4 metres higher than Wimbledon. That's less than the height of a 2 storey house!

Sutton and nearby Epsom are close to the Epsom racecourse. As it happens the Epsom Derby is next weekend. Watch it on TV to see what the North Downs are like. If you are lucky they might show a gradient profile of the course that the horses have to run.

 

[swt_passenger]

[…]
Thanks for this link. However, looking at the Wimbledon to Sutton gradient profile, I doubt that the vertical scale is correct. I think Sutton is a lot more than 4 metres higher than Wimbledon. That's less than the height of a 2 storey house!

Sutton and nearby Epsom are close to the Epsom racecourse. As it happens the Epsom Derby is next weekend. Watch it on TV to see what the North Downs are like. If you are lucky they might show a gradient profile of the course that the horses have to run.

By quickly looking at an old large scale OS map with regular spot heights, there’s an 80ft to 210ft height difference between the roads outside the station entrances, say 40m. Maybe there’s been a decimal point error somewhere in the conversion…

 

[thedbdiboy]

Well, I think that the line between Sutton and West Sutton was nicknamed the "Wall of Death", but that may have been for its curvature rather than its steepness.

It was indeed the gradients that earned the nickname

 

[Peter Mugridge]

It was indeed the gradients that earned the nickname

It was earned in first generation electric unit days; in leaf fall season they would often slip to a halt while coming up the gradient and it would be common practice to wait at the second signal for a clear run to ensure they wouldn't get held at the one just short of Sutton at the top of the gradient.

 

[Legolash2o]

From West Sutton to Sutton, I have it as high as 1 in 44. Hopefully this helps:

https://railmap.azurewebsites.net/Public/Route?origin=WSUTTON&destination=SUTTON

 

[rower40]

Lightweights...
Bodmin Parkway to Bodmin General has a ruling gradient of 1:37.

 

[Basil Jet]

It was indeed the gradients that earned the nickname

Really? A "Wall Of Death" is a hollow cylinder with a curved bottom so that motorcycles can ride around inside the bottom and speed up and gradually climb up onto the inner vertical surface, most impressively if there are two motorbikes going around at the same time 180 degrees apart. I imagine that the curvature was a crucial part of why this railway got the nickname.

 

[Tester]

Really? A "Wall Of Death" is a hollow cylinder with a curved bottom so that motorcycles can ride around inside the bottom and speed up and gradually climb up onto the inner vertical surface, most impressively if there are two motorbikes going around at the same time 180 degrees apart. I imagine that the curvature was a crucial part of why this railway got the nickname.

Agreed - and if my memory serves me correctly, at the Sutton end there is an impressive section of vertical brick 'cutting' on curves.

 

[Rescars]

Really? A "Wall Of Death" is a hollow cylinder with a curved bottom so that motorcycles can ride around inside the bottom and speed up and gradually climb up onto the inner vertical surface, most impressively if there are two motorbikes going around at the same time 180 degrees apart. I imagine that the curvature was a crucial part of why this railway got the nickname.

And a popular fairground spectacle at the time the St Heller loop was constructed.