Another basement design, look over and add/comment

Hinged or lift-bridge section has been built by many to avoid a duck under.

I'm kind of wishing there were a way to get between the center lobe and the dog bone on the right. I like to be able to see things close up--not to mention reach things easily.

Garry, I agree with Ken about access via a lift up bridge.  I have 2 on my 11' x 8' layout.  Where would you be situated when running trains?  Would you be putting pop up access holes in the lobes? 

On to the track itself.  You have two opposing loopbacks so you can reverse direction of trains and then reverse back to the original direction.  I like that.  Will the loop that doesn't connect to the rest of the tracks be used for some special train or trolley, or is it just so any train can run continuously while you run another through the different routes on the rest of the layout? 

I think it is a good start for sure.  Hopefully others with more imagination than me can give you more ideas. 

Here is some more designing, changes. Im thinking about doing a little mountain in the center, with open access on the back side to get to the middle back of the track.  I added the railyard at the back wall, may be a stretch in some places to get to.  Anyhow, still working,

Thanks

I definitely recommend the addition of a yard (with an appropriate yard lead, that allows doubling a cut of cars from one track to another without fouling the main lines!)  However... your latest design doesn't allow for comfortable reach to the yard area.

Sadly, 3-rail O gauge couplers can't ever be expected to work properly.  You have a huge space to work with, so don't be stingy about creating aisle(s) for the operators to stand in.  My $.02.

On your first design I was going to suggest that the stand alone dog bone be raised up as part of a mountain scene to provide that elevation aspect. But, with the revision you’ve connected the inner most route so I have two new thoughts.
1. Disconnect the inner loop, raise it and put a mountain in the middle. This breaks up the viewer’s line of sight making the layout seems bigger, more interesting and would allow for possible tunnels for the lower loops as well as the raised loop. Hiding the trains from sight really adds to an engaging layout.
2. Second option is to leave all loops on the same level and connect the inner loop as shown by the red line in the attached pic. You could also add other track features to the line such as sidings. This would enable easy operation of three trains at once.

I see you are a digital subscriber so here are 4 featured layouts in the magazine you should look at for inspiration. They are U shape, and would fit your space. They are oldies but goodies.

run 157 feb 1998 pg 72

run 173 jun 2000 pg 100

run 206 feb 2005 pg 92

run 208 jun 2005 pg 76 one of my favorites

Without a yard lead track, you won't be able to switch at the same time you are running on the outer loop.

Also, consider changing one of the reversing cutoff tracks to connect with the outer loop instead of the middle loop; perhaps the one at right. It creates the option of a much longer mainline run without traversing the same track in the same direction twice.