Would this work? impractical I know, but is it possible??

[slipchamber]

This device is large, so picture this in scale.. Imagine you are standing on a long, straight, deserted road. You have built a large metal rail/ramp system that is 1 mile long. The tallest point of the ramp (the starting point) is 25 feet high. The slope of the ramp is extremely gradual, almost imperceptible when standing below the starting point. The lower point at the end of the 5,280 foot long ramp is 20 feet high. So the ramp's rise is only 5 feet over 1 mile.

(This next part is still cloudy, but I'm not too concerned with the particular method used as I know it is scientifically possible to achieve this part. This is just my half baked method, feel free to adapt or change this if something would work better, be more efficient or practical, etc....)

The ramp itself is a U shaped channel kind of like one of those fast water slides at a water park, but it is actually a very long (and expensive) horseshoe magnet. So one side of the ramp is positive, the other side, negative. You then place a copper ball or disc at the top of the ramp and let it roll down. (Basically it's a very large and mobile Faraday Disc.. I did say this was half-baked right?)

So, the ball/disc is pulled down the 1 mile long ramp by gravity and because of the length of the ramp, even though it is a very slight slope, builds speed and momentum, generating electricity all the way down. The electricity is, of course, stored in a battery of some type for re-use later. At the end of the ramp, the ramp curves up like a ski jump, the momentum of the ball/disc (depending on it's weight and final speed) should be at least enough to raise it 1 - 2 feet. The ball/disc then enters an elevator that travels up and to the right or left (just diagonal enough to clear the ramp it just rolled down). Now the elevator using electricity from the battery to lift the ball/disc the 3-4 feet (depending on how high it could travel up the "ski slope" due to it's momentum) and is transferred to an adjacent ramp that will take it back down the way it just came. Rinse and Repeat...

So, once the obvious mechanical problems that would need to be worked out for maximum efficiency and practicality, would the ball/disc be able to generate at least enough electricity over 5,280 feet to lift it 3 or 4 feet needed to reset the device? Practical application be damned, if it generates/converts more energy than was put into it..it's worth it. Ok, blast away.. but please don't get hung up on the small stuff, tell me why the basic idea would or would not work. thanks! don't give up, we all know we can't create energy...but harness it? Yep

[mr_bojangles]

this would happen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQzkl5MD3i8

and thats straight down, an incline would be even slower

any direction the disc would go there would be a force opposing it in the opposite direction, the stronger the magnet the more force against it

i had an idea similar to this, but there would be almost no momentum, so the ramp at the bottom would be of no use