Some "possible inspiration"

My MRH blog ( https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/building-my-shelf-layouts-12188177 ) on my 2'x8' layout set in central Kansas might help you out some. 

I wish I had the room for staging that you have. That is the biggest short coming of my layout right now. Right now I have 2 on the layout industries (a flour mill (concrete silos) and a lumber yard). I also have team track/loading dock that serves several off site customers. I have a 4 car interchange track that is a kind of staging. using cc/wb routing I have one man operating sessions that last from 45 min. to an hour and 15 min.

As far as procrastination goes... Just DO It (Nike Swoosh here )

Youtube of a chap with a

Youtube of a chap with a layout roughly your size:

Some ideas:

http://home.online.no/~steinjr/trains/modelling/

My uncle was an engineer in the area you want to model before he retired 20 years or more ago.  Many engineers like to run way freight as they wracked up the miles which was good for the pay cheque and good for the retirement, based on your last 5 best years.  Unfortunately, he'd leave home in St. Albert on Monday and not get back until Friday.

Here's a good source, look at plan one and two in the last post of this short thread, it took a while for download so be patient:

http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?6672-2-ft-x-12-ft-shelf-layout

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated!

  You pretty much designed the layout already. Staging on the right wall, a 36 inch radius leaves a bit less than 9 feet for the town, so a run around with room for a loco to cut off  leaves about 8 feet to be apportioned for the industries and a small town depot and team track. I'd consider curved switches so the town could start closer to the right end if there appears to not be enough straight town to fit in the pieces of the puzzle. This is probably one of those layouts that is best designed with the actual track on the actual benchwork , trying different configurations till the best is found..........DaveB

Thanks for the suggestions!

Thanks for the suggestions, guys! I think DaveB is right, the hard part of the design is mostly done. I find that my creative juices dry up as soon as I sit down in front of a blank sheet of paper, so I haven't been able to come up with any kind of track plan yet. I like the suggestion of getting the benchwork in place and playing around with real pieces of track to make it all fit. The shelf brackets are already in place, and I have all the materials I need for the shelves. I think I'll focus on getting the benchwork up over the long weekend. It will be good to finally get something done.

rsn48, my "day job" (more like nights, weekends, holidays...) is actually as a locomotive engineer for CN, working out of Edmonton. I occasionally get to go on the old NAR lines, and it is always inspiring. I think I sometimes get too caught up in "real" railroading, and fail to see where I can selectively compress and build a convincing model. Sometimes an intimate knowledge of the real thing can be a handicap!

--
Jostein
 

benchwork in place and playing around with real pieces, of track

If you don't have track yet blue painters tape works well. I used it to design the staging and continuous run connection on my N scale layout. It's still there stuck in place waiting for some new turnouts to be bought or built.....DaveB 

Trevor Marshall's Port Rowan blog

Dear Jostein,

Suggest Googling "Trevor Marshall Port Rowan", this should take you to Trevor's blog. Check the design ethos behind Port Rowan (ignore the steam-era context, many Diesel-powered RRs owe a lot of their "feel" to their steam-era roots), and don't forget to check Trevor's "Achieveable Layouts" Blog offshoot

http://themodelrailwayshow.com/cn1950s/?page_id=3063 

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

PS don't forget that switching 1 industry, or even a team track, with defined car-spots can be just as engaging as switching "3 discrete industries which take 1 car-type each"

Trevor Marshall's layout

Prof,

Thanks for the suggestion! I was already familiar with Trevor Marshall's blog and layout, but at your prompting I went back to take a closer look and try to truly grok his concept of a "simpler" layout. Studying his track plan made me realise I've been overthinking it, and I think it'll all work out once I start putting down actual track on the benchwork.

Today I was able to assemble 12' worth of shelves that I will use as benchwork, and once the glue dries I will give them a quick coat of paint before I hang them. Should only be a couple of days before I can start playing with track. I plan to use Central Valley tie strips with code 55 rail, so it's a simple matter to put the plastic ties down and make it all fit.

--
Jostein
 

Lance Mindheim

Check out Lance Mindheim's shelf layout books and website.

http://www.lancemindheim.com

Track Plans

I was going to mention Lance too!

He has an interesting Prairie track plan in his book '8 Realistic Track Plans for Small Switching Layouts', that gives possibilities to modify.

Brian