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I think staging is the answer if one wants to represent real railroad operations. That is my personal opinion, not necessarily shared by others. I have a double decked layout with the upper deck and approximately 1/2 of the lower deck being the visible part of the layout. The non-visible part of the layout consists of an eastbound and a westbound through track and 10 double ended sidings for each direction of traffic flow. In an operating session, up to 16 different trains run from staging , half in each direction. They make stops along the visible route, some to drop and/or pick up cars, or to get water and coal, or to change motive power. The visible part of the layout requires switching in the main yard, and supports 2 locals that require the entire operating session to fini***heir work. In addition, there are industries that need switching in the main industrial area and a local mine run that occurs twice per session. One passenger train per session in each direction can really force one to hustle as they have priority over every other train on the layout. With enough operators on hand, a session can require each crew be totally focussed Eliminate the staging and the through nature of the operation ceases. No outside trains coming on or exiting the layout. The number of options is substantially reduced and the excitement of big time railroading vaporizes. I am an advocate for including substantial staging in any layout design. Tom
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