Ramp it Up!

The original layout had the Atlas plastic trestles used to lift the track sections up to the elevations required.  First, they really look sort of cheesy and toy like.  Second, I just didn't have enough of them.  I'd been looking at some of Woodland Scenics products online & really like their structures.  I noticed that they had a foam ramp system that comes in 2%, 3% and 4% grades.  The entire package of 3% grade is about $15 and runs from 0" to 4 1/2" in a 12' length.  It comes in 24" long sections so 1/2 of the package worked nicely.  I ordered my first (notice the word first) set from Model Train Stuff who is a great vendor with great prices.

Atlas plastic bridge trestles

Foam ramp with "destroyed" plastic trestles

The next step in the ramp process is to use the Woodland Scenics Sub-Terrain Foam Putty, which works a lot like spackle but is a lot lighter & easier to sand.  It took about 1 & 1/3 tubs (at 16 ounces per tub) to fill in all my ramps (remember when I said "first" a little earlier in this post).  They sanded nicely and the Woodland Scenics hot wire (another blast from the past model making days) was a great addition to my tool box.  Here's the finished ramps:

I've decided that I will end up finishing these with a combination of terrain built up to them, or a stone facing on the side of the ramp.  All in all, much better than the plastic trestles for sure!