New track plan # 2

[CandO7430]

Loren, I like the looks of this plan as well but I do have a few suggestions. This concerns the operation of the yard area. First off where you have the runaround siding on the south interchange I would add another turnout and extend the second track to the end of the benchwork just for extra capacity. Also now that you have a wye, I don't think you would really need the turntable at the end of the yard. You could remove the turntable and gain extra capacity in the yard. And trust me, you can never have too big of a rail yard. As an added bonus, it would make operation more interesting if the road power had to get clearance on the main to turn on the wye IMO. As far as the east interchange goes I think that you may want to eliminate the connection to the turntable and make this a hidden two track interchange/staging area like you had on an ealier version but leave in the crossover. Perhaps some building flats and trees could hide the interchange. I think that a train appearing or disappearing would help the illusion that a train actually goes somewhere off the layout to connect to an outside railroad.

I hope these suggestions help you in some way. Overall I like the looks of the plan, it certainly will keep you busy switching which seems to be what you want out of this new layout. Let me know if you have any questions about what I have written. Take care and good luck to you as you go forward.