Hi David: This looks

Hi David:

This looks promising.   I wonder about reorganizing the space between the loops on the lower and left quadrants, as the siding appears to accommodate approximately only 3.5 ft of train. (assuming 3'/square.)   Also, you don't have much of a yard.

Perhaps by clearing out the trident of short stubs, you could use the area for a more substantial yard with an A/D track.  This could be done by lengthening the lower siding left and up across the lift-out, as well as to the right (by use of a curved turnout, so as to avoid an S-curve) .  The siding could then be used to access a larger yard extending generally parallel to the siding.  It looks like you could fit 4-5 yard stubs of approx. 6 ft length.

If losing the "trident" yard is a problem, something could be nestled into the inter-loop space to the right. 

Of course, with more track in a small space, my ideas could rightly be critiqued as "spaghetti bowl."  

JimW

Things to look at

The "yard", the area with the turntable is behind and below the switching area.  Could be difficult to see and reach.

The yard really isn't a "yard since it has no tracks to switch, sort or store cars.

The yard is on grade which means you can't use it as a "yard", that is if you uncouple engines from cars, they will roll away.   both the switching areas on the bottom of the plan are on grades which will make working them very tough.

A 21" wide liftout will be awkward to handle, I would shoot for a foot deep at most.

The industrial area in front of the turntable is too crowded   There is no room for scenery or buildings.  I doubt the track will fit in the space.

You might be better off flipping the plan, leaving the track elevations and main more or less the same and putting the station with the turn table at 0 elevation and and the switching area with the diamond at 5" elevation.

What does your railroad do?  It's not obvious from the plan.  I assume the industry in the upper right is a "mine".   Where does the ore from the mine go?  How does the shortline connect to the rest of the world?

the track levels

can be a problem on an around the room multi lap design. Schematically I'd start with something like this( then add spurs and features as desired) Operations would be point to point from start town to mid town to up town with branch to mine. A continous run connection crosses doorway on removable section. Using about 2% grades gives a bit of sceneic elevation, use steeper grades if more mountainous look is preferred. Tracks could be hidden or intertwined at the right end if desired. ........DaveB

Passing sidings and such

I think the benchwork is still a bit deeper than necessary- but it depends on how much scenery you want to build and how much you're willing to reach back. It looks like you have to go under the duckunder to get to the roundhouse- so likely you won't use it very much as you won't want to duck under to get to it.

I like having the two (three?) passing sidings, make sure that they are at least the length of your longest trains, if not longer. However, the switching area doesn't have a runaround, making spotting facing point and trailing point cars impossible. I'd also cut out at least one of the three tracks there unless they have a very specific purpose.