I would have some arrangement for turning engines. You may want to run opposing trains that meet at the siding (I would put another siding somewhere). I agree with you that a turntable would be too much, so I would connect the tracks at bottom left. Also, if the wing at the left is a mine, there should be a small mining town. As for operations, I would put in a staging yard under the layout so your trains can come from somewhere. I recommend having a small logging RR come out from the staging yard, as in this era there were a lot of trees and logging railroads were doing well. Hope you like this feedback.