Steepest grade you ever pulled or went down.....

Did that happen to be US 23? The hillbilly highway! I've got the chance to run it tonight/tomorrow morning running paper from Kingsport to Was CH, OH. How ridic steep is it? Really think the old Volvo would prefer 77 and the longer miles and tolls...but curiosity is getting the better of me.

 

Pa route 643 from dott to town hill. Went across that one time weighing 78k with a set of doubles. 19 and 20% grades with a 90° right hander at the bottom of a 2 1/2 mile 20% hill. It'll make your ### stick to the seat a little

 

Ive got a 24% going up (And down...) and #### near 30 coming off.

There are a number of unmarked grades on the smaller coal roads around PA where it was possible to skip across a few valleys and ridges (More like mountains...) to get from one route to another. I remember one near Allentown where it was very steep and curvy. The pressure on the 5th wheel was trying to force the tractor to come around. (CH Mack day cab) in the rain so that took a little bit of give and take on the steering. Fortunately no one was coming the other way.

For railroading there is a switchback on Cass Scenic that takes off at 9% to start up towards spruce and it's a mile to the next switch up, there is a unofficial gradiant that reaches 11% in several spots on that specific pull. It is a shay type engine number two we had that day making the trip. I was 14 at the time and it was my introduction to mountain work when one of the brakemen for our passenger car spent the trip teaching me how to tighten and loosen the brake wheel on the car working with all the other brakemen in their cars along with the engineer's locomotive brake and train brake system. It was all about constant braking that day coming back down.

Ive been on too many, I cannot remember them all. Believe it or not it's the grades less than 12% to say 6% where I got into the most trouble sometimes. I used to get a little bit full of myself and said one day that the mountain grade did not matter and never will. Well... hot brakes taught me otherwise when I tried it into western virginia from western maryland on that series of gaps. (Passes)

Anyone can climb a hill. But getting off it, now that is the trick.

 

In the bush, I'd say 10-15%.

On the big road? Apalachian mountains. Some big long pulls going from WV to NC!

 

Highway 28 in California 8to10% and crazy turns had to there cuz I 80e was closed

 

Lol they once lowered my truck down the Hoover dam spillway but I wasn’t driving most of the way and didn’t much even like the walk back from as far as I did go.
Those grout monkeys that did it all day laughed but I’ve worked on roofs that weren’t as steep.

 

I went in the wrong way once in WV to pick up load of charcoal somewhere southeast of Morgantown east off I-79. Winding up mountain I actually scraped ICC bumper a couple times with axle slid forward. Got Loaded and left out the Long way.

 

90%
It's all about "oneupsmanship" on here.

 

Lol I’d forgot those loads the army pulled me up the mountain with a cat.
I stayed behind the wheel but I’m not sure you can call that driving either.
The steepest grades I actually drove were for a freight liner Unimog commercial
They were barely longer than the truck and there was a cable running over the pile to the front axle so when the mog started to roll over they could pull it back down.
Still freaky