Track Superelevation

What is superelevation and why bother with it?

I have come to the stage in my layout construction where my mainline track has been pinned in place and wiring completed. Before I contemplate ballasting the track, I considered superelevating the track curves.

Superelevation (also known as ‘cant’) on mainline curves is where the outside rail is higher than the inside rail. On the prototype, the amount of height difference depends on the tightness of the curve and the speed of the trains using it. For practical reasons, the latter can be ignored on the common scales of model railways but curve radii is a factor, particularly at the transition area between ‘flat’ track and superelevated track.

I like the visual effect superelevation provides, especially when viewing trains head-on. The sight of a train leaning into