nth draft but getting close

A very attractive layout.  Thanks for sharing.

Is there any way you could reverse the opening direction of the entrance door?  This can be easy to do or it can be impossible depending on what is on the other side but it would allow a smaller srop-leaf section which would simplify construction and reduce problems.  Barring this perhaps you could tighten your curves approaching the drop section to shorten the piece that lifts/drops.  also - a side note- Will that drop leaf clear the floor inthe down position or clear the  ceiling if it goes theother way?  If not you need to make it shorter.

I suggest a runaround at each mine - if you don't have this you will have a lot of long moves of mine trains backing up which is more trouble.

Could you reduce the elevation of the mine on the right? - that 3.9% grade is scary.  There is a long run between the mines and it would operate better and look better with a reduced grade.

Good luck - I envy you the fun of building and operating this layout.

Art Armstrong - Artarms

Yep, need more runarounds

Most modelers never put enough runaround tracks in their plans ... it's the first sign of a plan from a modeler who has little actual operation experience - and the first shortcoming you will discover once you try operating for real.

A few comments

First off, this looks like a nice plan.

The following may be issues...

• I think that you might want to add a couple more staging tracks (event though they'd be shorter). If you can find reliable 3-way turnouts for N-scale you can make the two front tracks a bit longer. It almost inevitable that a layout needs more staging than is available.
• If I'm reading the plan correctly staging is at 46" while the area above is at 50". A 4" railhead to railhead clearance isn't much if you have to get in there to fix things. You said you were making the area above staging a lift out for access. Definitely a good idea. But how are you going to build a 7' section of railroad stiff enough to lift out without having bracing underneath it? And if you put bracing underneath it is there still enough clearance?
• Speaking of a lift out, where will you put it while it's "lifted out"?
• I'd suggest lowering the mine on the right a couple of inches - not because of the grade (which is steep but not impossible) but because of the scenic difficulties having nearly adjact tracks with a 10+" height differential. Run arounds at both mines seem like a good idea for operations. Definitely put a run around at the left mine.
• The hinged plate on the center peninsula probably isn't needed. Instead shorten the right hand run around enough to fit and engine and car between it and the end of the peninsula. I think your crews wil like the lap-runaround configuration you have there!
• The hinged platform across the doorway has two tracks on it. One appears to be level. The other is on a grade. That track will require extremely careful construction and registration from when the drop leaf isn't dropped. Having a 3-d drop leaf will also require some engineering so it can swing up into place without having the leaf thickness become an issue. Someone else mentioned changing some adjacent track work so the door can open/close without having to drop the leaf. I think that's an idea that ought to be pursued.
• Depending on your height raising the layout a bit might make the drop leaf across the door acceptable as a duck under (with no drop leaf capability. Since the drop leaf is in a corner I think you may have some big time difficulties with the stability (or lack thereof) of the end points of your drop leaf (seasonally) which may make it difficult to get the drop leaf to operate and to get the tracks to align properly both horizontally and vertically. If you can bear to make it non-removable construction and reliability of that area will be improved (at the expense of general room access).

All in all though this looks like a good concept.

Regards,

Charlie