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Hi everyone. Just wanted to get some feedback before I started construction. Some quick info... I started with a 24x11 room that quickly turned into a overflow furniture/train room so my usable space has really been cut to what you see (about 10.5 by 7) * and by the way the green box is a door*. Ho scale, 60's prr, I want to have a very small town on the left side, the upper building will be a coal mine, and the lower will be a power plant. I know the middle is tight but it will be me 98% of the time so it works. I will also throw a switch or two in the tunnel so I can hopefully extend...someday... I will be using MRC Prodigy Advance 2. Minimum 20 inch radius and number 6 turnouts, probably will use atlas code 83 flex. I will probably will never have more than 2 trains running at a time. The blue lines will be a removable/liftup/or swing out section. This isn't my first layout so I hopefully won't run into to many problems but ya never know. Thanks
Looks like a pretty good plan, although I'd squeeze the middle even a little more and get 22" radius curves. I'm assuming the door swings away from the layout, right? It looks like your lift section is about four feet long. Is there some reason you need it that long? A two foot section would be easier to handle and you should still be able to get by without a problem.
Overall a simple basic plan. I see one thing though. Once you go through the crossover on the right side from one main to the other, there is no way to return to the other main without backing a train back through the same crossover. It would be a good idea to add another crossover to the other side as well, to get the trains back to the other line. This would also take the "mains" and give you a passing siding for each line, making running 2 trains even easier.
By moving the 2 tracks over more toward the center of the layout, it appears than you may have room to add a small lead to the "yard" to let you do some switching, train makeup/rearranging, without tying up the mains.
I also would add at least a few more spurs to the plan to add some variety in switching. Having just the Mine and powerhouse will eventually get boring.
I would also do what Jim suggested about the removable section and the curve radii.
I see one thing though. Once you go through the crossover on the right side from one main to the other, there is no way to return to the other main without backing a train back through the same crossover. It would be a good idea to add another crossover to the other side as well, to get the trains back to the other line.
That was the big thing that caught my eye. One could put the crossover on the other side of the layout (hence doubling as a runaround/passing siding) or one could make the existing crossover into a double crossover just for the looks of having some complex track work in one place and simpler track in others. Or both! See below.
My second comment is related. The two industries are configured for clockwise running. That is a train moving clockwise would back into the mine, travel around the layout, and then back into the power plant. Cool. The yard looking tracks on the other hand are set to back in from a counter-clockwise running train. So you really NEED a run around track to move the locomotives to the other side of the train. Otherwise to get to the other side of the train one must run the locomotive around the whole loop. While that works it takes away the feeling of a real railroad.
Having said that I was thinking. Perhaps it would be more interesting to reverse the direction of one or the other (mine / power plant). That way the train can't just run straight from one to the other. The train would go to the mine pick up full cars. Take the full cars to the yard. Reverse the train. Then travel to the power plant. Empty cars would be the reverse.
Then as someone else already suggested, I would try to sneek in at least one maybe two more sidings for other industries. Even if they are only 1-2 car sidings. Otherwise performing the above operations over and over could get really old really quick.
+1 on needing another crossover. I'd try to add at least one spur to be used for an interchange. You could maybe use that hidden track on the outer loop as an interchange somehow. Maybe. Have to think about that some more.
I like your benchwork design - it's different than most donut plans. I'd build this with modules in case you ever have to move it, etc.
so my usable space has really been cut to what you see (about 10.5 by 7) * and by the way the green box is a door*. Ho scale, 60's prr, I want to have a very small town on the left side, the upper building will be a coal mine, and the lower will be a power plant. I know the middle is tight but it will be me 98% of the time so it works. I will also throw a switch or two in the tunnel so I can hopefully extend...someday...
I will be using MRC Prodigy Advance 2. Minimum 20 inch radius and number 6 turnouts, probably will use atlas code 83 flex. I will probably will never have more than 2 trains running at a time. The blue lines will be a removable/liftup/or swing out section. This isn't my first layout so I hopefully won't run into to many problems but ya never know. Thanks 
