The Saluda Grade - here climbed by Southern Railway 2-8-2 number 4501 - is at 4.7% the steepest standard-gauge mainline railway gradient in the United States. Owned by the Norfolk Southern Railway as part of its W Line, the Saluda Grade in Polk County, North Carolina forms part of the line over the Blue Ridge Mountains from Spartenburg, South Carolina to Ascheville, North Carolina.
The Saluda Grade itself consists of a three-mile (5 km) section of track that rises over 600 feet (180 metres) in elevation with a highest official grade of 4.7% but reaching 5.1% at one point between the towns of Melrose and Saluda. Norfolk Southern suspended freight traffic between Landrum, South Carolina and Flat Rock, North Carolina in December 2001, thus ceasing operations on the Saluda Grade
As those who have our books know, the steepest such gradient in NZ is 3% between Otira and Arthur's Pass.
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