John, Thank you for your comments. I do agree the yard is right in the middle of things. I see many layouts where modelers have a yard on a peninsula in the middle, like this, but I think their focus is usually not the same as mine, where I want to focus on a train winding through small towns and climbing the mountain. Dave's comment above shows he has a good concept of what I am thinking; and the drawbacks in my mind of some other designs, one being the construction of or purchase of some kind of drawer system for rolling stock. He first proposed a yard on the main table parallel to the blue track, but that proved too deep to reach the pink track for re-railing and detail work. One thing to keep in mind is, I don't like handling engines and rolling stock. With my arthritis, I seem to break off the details I love, and am afraid of dropping an engine. If I had room for larger curves, and thus larger steam locomotives, I don't know if I would get any regardless. A scale 4-8-4 was so awkward and heavy, I was afraid I would drop it, so I sold it. One other negative of the yard in this position is that it makes for a big obstacle for following a train with a remote in hand. One thought is, since I have had success with the roll-out section, to make the yard detachable and roll it out into the 36" reserved walkway once I am running a train. That may prove to not be feasible when I want to change trains when operating, but it is an idea.
I sort of view the stacked "run and reverse" as an open "staging" area like what is hidden on many layouts. I could park a train there while running another. Yes, if I don't hand swap out cars, it will be the same train running back again, but If we design something like that, it will take up too much space and shorten an improved but still short run. I know, that is the spot talked about for drawers with rolling stock to swap out.
Another Forum member emailed me with an idea for a variation drawn on paper and sent as a .pdf, since he uses a different application than SCARM. I fiddled with the idea adapting one of Dave's recent versions, and am not ready to post here. He has a slightly different concept, which I am not sure I want, but why not draw it out and see what it looks like? I'll post that when it is ready with my comments and he can comment as will if he desires.
As always, I appreciate everyone's input. Thank you.
