For the forseeable future, I will likely not be building a detailed, intricate, permanent layout. Which leaves me with a basic floor layout to run trains. As of now I have three humble loops and a yard with a reverse loop inside - each loop is O72, O60, O48, and the reverse loop and yard trackage are O36. These loops start to get boring however, and I've been thinking about what I could do to give the layout some character. I feel like scenery options are limited because, again, this is not a permanent layout. An idea I had was a twice-around O72 layout, with a normal O60 loop and a small yard on the inside. I would have another O72 switch to lead off into a separate engine yard off to the side. The grades are 3% on the inner incline and 3.5% on the outer incline. My freight trains right now don't get longer than 10 cars, so I think my Legacy locomotives could tackle the grade.
The biggest issue though is I don't know what to do for the bridge. I was thinking of using Woodland Scenics' incline/decline sets to get up to the bridge - but what do I use for the curved bridge?
I'm not 100% sold on the idea of changing layouts - the layout has been through many iterations, and the more I change the layout the more track I have to buy I also need to double check the layout dimensions to make sure the layout isn't taking up more space than I can afford to give, but I thought it was an interesting thought exercise, and who knows, maybe I'll build it for the fun of it. But what do you think? Is a twice-around design a good solution for an exciting, semi-tempory floor layout? What would you recommend for the bridge? And what are your thoughts on scenery and accessories for a temporary layout?
Scarm file is attached if you would like to take a look at the file for yourself. Note that the engine yard off-side and some of the inner yard trackage are not complete as I hit the 100-piece track limit.