Interesting concept and

Interesting concept and execution. The initial idea was I thought a bit of a stretch but your article made it sound like it was a good idea. Liked your idea of research and the room for expansion.

Rob in Texas

Finally, a realistic entry.

This is the best entry to date over 2 years.  This one is a layout that someone can actually build.

It also amply demonstrates what you can realistically achieve with $500.  A minimal start.  No scenery, no structures, no turnout controls, no roadbed, just some benchwork, limited track, one locomotive, 3 cars, and a cheap power pack.  Be nice to see if with another $500 or so you can have a complete layout.

Maybe for the next contest the budget should be raised to $1000.

Paul

You could have ...

... a fully scenicked On30 Chicago Fork with loco and 5 cars, track (two turnouts) and power supply for well under $500.  No, it won't be around the room (but certainly could be included as part of an around the room layout later); but it would be complete.  

The idea is to see what can be done with $500.  It is low to spur creative thinking on the part of the designer.  Increasing the budget to $1000 would pretty much take away any "challenge" from the contest.

Well-Described

I enjoyed reading the how-to description in this article; it's something you could follow and actually construct this plan. I also like the expansion plan; however, it looks like you'd have to "duck-under" to get to the 2nd phase. If I was going to build this, I might turn the plan into a "U" shape, or maybe an "E" shaped plan.

I*'m not sure why it's happening...

... but riverotter, you've posted a message a dozen or more times now in at least two different threads. I marked all but one of each as spam... but whatever you're doing... don't do it!

I think you might be refreshing the posting page, or perhaps hitting the "SUBMIT"  more than once.