I've always done rural layouts with roundy-round through scenery. This layout I'm doing now is mining, with minimal logging, and will finally have operations as a focus as well as mountainous terrain, even ocean inlet water. While not 'rural' in the usually accepted sense of the word, it will focus on operations like Randy just posted about. I purposely took out the roundy-round this time so it is strickly point to point with locos never turning around. Jim
Steinjr has a few rural designs based on smaller towns in Iowa and Minnesota. They're listed with a bunch of his other designs on his page here. Just got back from a trip to Disneyland (wheeeeee!), and took a closer look at the elevator at Buttonwillow, CA off I-5: There are two offset runarounds / through sidings, one servicing a small elevator (top), the other swinging out father to service the industry at the bottom. The track extends west (left) for about a mile, with one spur to service a small building, and then it stops. Highway 5 crosses over the tracks just to the right. Continuing east (right), there's a single-spur industry surrounded by crop circles: and then, after a 45 deg turn south, there's a large gravel / aggragate loading facility: Below the main are two through sidings for storage, There are a couple of spurs coming off the main to enter the industry. All these industries connect to the main to the lower right (south-east). All three locations could be brought together to create a rural switching layout, and an "L" shape would space them out (with runarounds on both legs). Or, combine elements & trackage for a more compact design. The only trees around these parts are groves of almonds. If you decide to model the highway service area right next to the freeway & tracks, in addition to all the fast food, there's a "Taste of India" restaurant there that would instantly ID the for all who've past through ; )
