The move to O gauge has caused me to come to the conclusion that I needed to wind down the old OO gauge layout.

So a couple of weeks ago the task of packing up all the models, creating an inventory and disassembling the layout commenced.

Clearing all the stock off the layout had a purgative effect and allowed the entry of fresh thoughts...

Thoughts - like the need to never again leave the models on the layout but to place them there fresh every time the layout was operational.

The clutter was preventing me for enjoying it and seeing all the many the possibilities...

This clean sheet triggered a thought - "Why not build a ramp so that he outer circle could directly access the inner circle?"

I had always wanted to do this but there was no space - well now there was.

So some practical research was undertaken to do with height, slope and width and the radius of any curves.

After messing around with some blocks and making a few small adjustments to the existing layout - plus consulting various forums on RMweb - and after going against all the sage advice that was gathered, decided on the following...

It had to rise to a height of 3" above the track and because of limited space it had to do this in 6 feet which gave a slope of 1 in 24 - the recommendation that came with dire warnings was to never, ever go steeper than 1 in 30 and that 1 in 50 would be far wiser - this would have necessitated a 12 foot plus ramp, and there simply is not the space...

Next the whole thing was mocked up using bits of wood etc., and it was discovered that it needed to be 3" wide to accommodate the 22" curves and be able to handle coaches and any other long wagons with bogies etc..

The next big question was how to build it and with what?

The answer was to use art board - its about 1/16th of an inch thick and much easier to handle and cut than wood. It bends much more easily around curves and can be glued together using cell technology into something that is pretty sturdy. It can be safely spray painted and It also accepts glue in a way that allows it to be covered using brick papers in a way that leaves them reasonably flat. I was going to use wood to fabricate the parapets, but in the end this board was used throughout in the construction.

Tests also showed that a Bachmann or Heljan diesel could pull any amount of coaches up a 1 in 24 incline and that a Hornby Schools or Castle could tug 5 coaches - which was more than adequate for my needs. (Even an M7 could manage three...)

So construction commenced and I soon became very glad that this up and over and down again ramp was only 1 in 24 as it was apparent that the longer it was the more work would be needed to finish it -as it is it took two weeks of concentrated effort to pull it off.

Here is an image in bare unfinished art-board....

That was the quick part...

It was built in short sections - the straights were mostly 24 inch modules (except where they are not) - the 2 curves were built 1/8 circumference sections (19" long approx. on the outer and 16 " approx. on the inner and the two bridge portions were joined together to make one whole 1/4 circumference. (If anyone should need the exact dimensions I would be happy to do a plan and pass it on. It was all designed in my head as it progressed so at the moment no plan exists...) Mock pillars cover the joins.. The whole construction once built was covered with yellow London brick paper that was printed out using Photoshop - (The original was a single sheet of brick paper that was bought on eBay and scanned into the computer many moons ago and has been over years the scaled up or had it colours changed etc..)

Here is an image of the finished for now ramp - the vertical smoothing curves still have to be designed and built..

and another view...

Should anyone be mad enough to want build one like this do feel free to ask about any other details concerning the construction.

It was a fairly straight forward build designing as I went - but they did train me to be a Civil Engineer in my distant youth and what might be totally obvious to my mind might not be so to another's. The geometry of the curved sections might be more difficult to grasp for some rather than others..

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The ramp as is has been tested using a class 37 pulling MK1 coaches and a castle pulling a rake of 5 Hawksworth coaches and both have successfully negotiated a closed loop 'round and up and over and down and round and round and up...' through some tortuous points etc.. over track that has yet to be fixed down without coming to any grief.. (Mind you - It takes a bit careful driving...)