A couple days ago I was looking at google maps for a store location and stumbled across an oval layout. I have never realized I lived so close to one as I have walked some of the track along the mainline there. It's a power plant here in Denver. I've cut it out of a screen shot so you can see the track arrangement. It seems like it had a small yard at one time as well. I expect incoming cars would get run around to the car unloader and then get rolled down the slope back to the entrance area for the loop. And of course there is some kind of spur to deliver heavy machinery on for maintenance of the plant, and also for cinder removal.
Lets not forget the Cherokee Power Plant at 58th Ave also! Using tight curves and big power! Here, Dash 9's bring in the coal train and drop it. Then, the PSC 15-1 moves cars through the unloading house. Formerly a rotary dump house. A good switcher for this might be the LL SW9/1200, Kato NW-2, or maybe the MT SW1500.
MS Power uses a reversing loop to turn their unit coal trains. Though I don't have clue how they solved the DCC power reversing problem.
I see one connection track at upper left. Is that the only way in/out of this facility? Seems like having two would be better, or there'd need to be a shove move every time.
58th ave looks cool too. Lots of abandoned track there I might want to see in an earlier era. The thing we really need to do is convince them to build viewing platforms so we can go watch them unload the coal.
