Here are some photos of the Washington Northern Port Andrews District's largest customer, Raven Pulp & Paper. Because of the limited space I've chosen to model more of the main mill structure than the woodchip yard. The main buildings in the back hide the two staging tracks and have been kitbashed out of several Walthers Kits and a lot of scratchbuilding. The mill itself has 3 sidings, one for the chemical unloading area, one for woodchips which will be spotted on one of the tracks running through the center of the mill complex to the "off layout" woodchip yard.

OK I have my plan for my staging and then some... Now for some questions regarding the helix.

1) I have taken your advice and split the lower staging from a "80ft run" to about 40ft by 40ft.

2) At the end of one run there is a helix. it is 2 levels (33inch rad.)

3) It goes up to my yard on the second level.

How do we deal with this. Before I started reading up on this stuff I thougt that I was OK, now I realize there are some parameters that I need to consider.

 A 6" square plaster-boarded support column or post rises through my benchwork, separating a three track main line from a freight yard in a very urban industrial area.  At the moment, it has undergone the same treatment as the backdrop:  painted white at horizon fading to sky blue toward the ceiling.  

I have been busy over the past couple of years working on designing my future model railroad:  The Prairie State Railroad Company.  This layout, inspired by Bill Darnaby's Maumee Route layout in HO scale, is essentially going to be designed much like his HO layout, but done in N scale.  As long a mainline run as possible in the space allotted, being a shelf layout inside a 16 by 17 foot room in a 16 by 22 foot garage (the extra space is the workshop and hidden staging yards).