Dear Mark:
I woke up this morning (Sunday the 15th) thinking about the track plan. I'm concerned that the lengths of the lanes in Davis are too short. I'm envisioning short consists meaning a maximum of four 10-inch cars and one eight inch caboose maximum, about 50 total inches. I want to leave room for at least one engine, and a few cars, to be parked on a turntable spoke/spur ready to go when another arrives. I increased the length of the lanes.*READ In the drawing...below
And, I reduced the grade (It is still steep--intentionally--) from Davis to the first turnout in the canyon. I moved the other main line turnout back toward the tunnel to reduce the grade in the lower portion of the grade. I also increased the Height from the floor of Hendricks by 2 inches--better for your back.
I like the longer lanes and slightly reduced grades better.
In the drawing, I didn't put tracks directly over/under one another for CLARITY of the drawing. At my computer, I can turn on/off the various lines by color. Showing a photo, I can't do that. When you construct this arrangement this you will discover you have a little more room to work with than what is shown in this drawing, because I on purpose left more space between upper/lower tracks than necessary to give you a less cluttered and more easy to understand view.
It is great that there is a trail on the old roadbed your are modeling! You can see firsthand what the scenery looks like. I realize it's expensive, but I think you should consider photo-realistic images for your backdrop. Your entire backdrop, with curved corners, will be about 25 to 30 feet in total length. It would appear as a mural of shorts from the edge of the wall as you walk in the room from the house (NOT the small section between the opening and sliding glass door) and go 3/4 of the way around the room ending at the sliding glass doors (nearer to rear wall side).
Lastly, I went to the website of the Western Maryland Historical Society yesterday. Good stuff.
