As I type this, we are in the mountains of North Georgia. Yeah, I know you guys out west call these hills......Anyway, we trailered the Model A up here yesterday to drive around and enjoy the scenery. Today, we took her up to Brasstown Bald, highest point in the state, 4700 feet and some change. Upon turning onto the road to the top, there is a sign saying the next 3 miles are steep and to disconnect any trailers you might be pulling and leave them there. I had already had to use 2nd gear a few times, and this stretch required 1st in places. About 1/2 mile from the top, we were beginning to overheat. I pulled over to let everyone pass and to let the car cool off. It was boiling. I let it cool some and added some bottled drinking water and pulled back out. I was afraid I would spin the tires in the loose gravel and not get back onto the asphalt. It did spin some, but I was able to get it back onto the hardtop and make it on up to the top of the mountain. The lady at the ticket booth had an empty container and told me where to find a faucet. It took another quart or so of water. On the trip back down, I left it in 1st gear. Those behind me would just have to wait. There were places I would have to still pump the brakes occasionally. There were places 2nd would have been OK, but I didn't want to risk having to downshift again if it got steeper. Overall, I think she did pretty well. If I had been better prepared, I would have brought some water for the radiator along.

This trip would have scared the HECK out of me in a T. That left foot would be dog tired by the time you got to the top (And bottom). It certainly should not be attempted without auxiliary brakes. If RM brakes don't work well in reverse, I don't know that I would attempt it with them. Rolling down that hill backward would not be any fun.

Well, we enjoyed that little excursion, but I think I can put that on my list of things I've done and may not do that trip in an antique car again.

Here's a couple of pics. Finally got them developed.....I mean downloaded. Or is that uploaded?

Here's me and the A at one of the scenic overlooks.


Here's a view from up top.

Hall,My Wife has a 29 Briggs Towne Sedan. Nice cars! Bud.

You nailed it. That's what she is. What color is your wife's car?

We really enjoyed this trip. We don't have a T yet (But soon), and the TT would just be too slow for the traffic in this area, so we brought the A. A T with auxiliary brakes would be fine for most of this area, but that climb up Brasstown Bald and trip back down was kinda scary in the A with 4 wheel brakes. I'm sure if I drove a T in this area very much, my opinion of Warfords, Ruxtells and RM brakes would change immediately.

Hal,The roof and fenders are black and the body is shi brindle brown.The up is org with the roll shades,pull ropes map pockets in doors,seat deviders and the dome light even works! I found it in a add in the Model T Times and travled to Isanta,Minn to get it.Whai i really like about the car is the more smooth/rounded/flowing cowl that the 29 Towne Sedans shared with the Caborlet?? Bud. PS,I have no ruxtell but i had skid marks when one poped out of gear and those skid marks were not on pavement!!!!!! Bud.

Did it say anywhere what the % grade was? I have run 7 to 9% grades in the Rockies in the T with no problem. I do have a ruxtell and hydraulic brakes on the rear wheels. I have done a 15% grade for a short distance. That was definitely steep.

No, it didn't, and I don't know why. There are other roads in the state that do. Maybe it varies by county. I wondered that myself and told my wife I might try to find a topo map of the area and see if we couldn't calculate it.

Ken, there are Model A people that don't understand what you mean when you talk about the cowl of the Cabriolets and Town Sedans. Especially when you tell them the fuel tank comes out the the bottom rather than the top. They are a different animal.

According to this, it ranges from 10% to 24%.

http://www.mountainmapper.com/brasstown_bald.htm

You might be surprised at how steep a T can climb at 900 RPM in high.
They love steep hills.
Going down is another thing. Not much fun.
Oh, Hal, we gave a few hills like that here in Ca. We call them grades.
Every spot in this country is beautifull and they are all worth seeing.

Yeah, I figured some of you guys out west would give me a little ribbing about calling those "Mountains". I saw something on TV about the Appalachans recently. I don't guess anyone knows how high the peaks were, but they were formed much earlier than the the Rockies and supposedly at that time had the jagged peaks and such like you see out west. Millions of years of errosion has made them the rounded shape that they are today, and I guess in several more million years the Rockies will look like these do today, and these will be nothing more than mounds?