Originally Posted by
Bezalel
The section between Cumberland and Frostburg is the steepest section at IIRC 2.8% you can take the WMSR uphill for that segment, for downhill 2.8% is manageable. outside this section the steepest grade is IIRC 1.5%.
According to the official GAP site, the ruling grade of the entire trail is 1.5%. If you do the math (1787' (elevation drop)/132000' (over 25 miles) x100), the average grade of the section between the divide and Cumberland is only 1.35%. An average of 2.8% over the distance between Cumberland and Frostburg would be a monster grade in the standard guage, non-cog railroad world.