Layout Concept

I'm beginning planning for a basement layout (n-scale). I have an area about 12x16, but as the attached shows, must keep an aisle on the left-hand side as the house power panel is on the wall in the corner. There is also a post indicated in the design. This is an initial concept. The single-track inside the mainline loop is a planned traction line. So far, I'm thinking free-lance, with a northeastern US flavor (PRR, NYC). A passenger station is located to the left, with city scene. on the other side of the 4' wide section the city would transition to industrial, with maintenance facilities in the area with the turntable. Along the north wall would be a suburban area, then rural along the right-hand side. I've run heights for the areas where lines cross, and that seems doable. I plan a helix down to staging in the upper left corner, with the possibility of a helix up to a second level in the future. This is still rough concept, not finished, but I thought my planning might benefit from advice at this point. Any comments/suggestions are welcome, from where to put industrial tracks to redesigning the overall arrangement (I'd initially thought of three peninsulas, sort of a capital E on its side). I do have the file in .any format as well.

 

Good point. I hadn't thought about that in much detail. Planning (and building the framework, at a minimum) for the upper level would probably be a smarter move...

 

I think you have a pretty good design so far. I like the interchange/reversing loop up top. It looks interesting. The main line doesn't really have problems, but I see two other problems with the layout: the helix and the roundhouse location.
I would get rid of the helix and do a linear decent to staging along the back wall and put the staging under the wing on the right side of the picture. To go down to staging, you need a big hole to give the train a gradual descent. To go up, you would need a way to hide the helix (mountain, etc.), and then you would end up burying your station in scenery. A big mound in the middle of your layout would take up a significant amount of space, and it would be ultra-obvious that a helix was inside.
I would also suggest moving the roundhouse closer to the station or the station closer to the roundhouse. A roundhouse is often located in or near a yard, so for your layout to make sense, all the tracks in between the station and roundhouse would have to be yard trackage. Everyone loves roundhouses, but by putting it on a peninsula by itself, you are giving it a massive spotlight, and taking it away from the things that it should be near. For locomotives to get to their trains from the roundhouse, they have to go down the mainline. I would move it to the bottom left corner, inside the curve. Now the yard scene is together and the peninsula is open for a big industry or a new locoation for your traction line.

 

Thanks for the input. The linear descent to staging makes a lot of sense, and certainly would clear up a significant landscape issue. I like the idea of moving the roundhouse where you suggest, too. I think I can do that and probably get a more sensible pattern for the yard and industrial section that way.