There is good and bad with this kit. I appreciate that the folks with the 5 star reviews are happy and it seemed to work for them, so that is cool. But really to install these property and also get an appropriate grade for your train (around 3%, as some commentors have noted), you really need two sets of this kit. One whole one for your incline grade, and one for you descent. Bachmann should make it clear that if you install it as shown on the box, or just as their instructions say to do it, which is a pier at each track connection, you are going to end up with grade of a little over 5% if you are using standard 9" EZ track sections.. that's one pier for each connection over 7 sections of 9" track. for the 3 1/4 inch rise you gain with the tallest pier the math is 3.25 inches of rise divided by 63 inches of run = 5.16% grade (I learned that online from smarter model train people than me :)). that is too steep for most any train, and really not realistic at all. my train could only get up the hill alone or with one, maybe two cars attached before I started getting wheel spin. I ended up going to my hobby store and buying a second set and doubled the number of piers for my incline, shimming every other one under the pier with about a 1/4" piece of balsa wood to fill the gap that would be created by the incline. this gave me a grade just under 3% (2.77% by my math I learned above), and my train handles it very well. I like to run my train with around 7 cars or so, and the only feasable grade is 3% or less, which after I researched a bit is the consensus among experts as the steepest you want to go. Do note that with doing that with this kit, it takes 13 sections of either 9" straight and/or 18" radius turn EZ track to make the incline to the top (I know there are 14 pieces in the set and I said only 13 sections of track, but you don't have to count the tallest one that is left over as part of your incline, hence 13 sections... you see what I did there :))... that is a long hill though, 117 inches or so, and if you do not have a lot of EZ track on hand, you will spend all of it going up just to come right back down. so plan accordingly. All that said, I like my EZ track, because I do not use a permanent layout and like to pack my set up after a while and put it all away. So being able to break down my kits and put it all back in boxes and fit it all in a closet is nice, and these piers lend themselves very well to that type of model railroading. I also like to make various layouts and have the tracks overlap, which is relatively easy to make work with these kits. I bought a couple kits ofBachmann Trains 8 PC. E-Z TRACK Tall Pier Set so I could have an elevated loop that my train climbs to that overlaps a lower line. the piers did also go together and connect to the track very well, and make it easy to make changes, put together, and take apart quickly. If you are building a permanant layout however.. the better bet will likely be something like theWoodland Scenics WS 1415 Foam 3 Percent Incline Starter 6 Package . thanks for reading.. happy model railroading!
