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Instead of a full-blown "yard", you might have just a passing siding (turnouts on both ends) and a single set-out track, for three parallel tracks total, with an industry spur or two branching away from this. You'd be representing a small town which needs to be switched by an "extra" local freight, along a main line that needs to be kept clear for the scheduled higher-priority trains. Hide the back half of the loop, and use it as a staging area; from time to time, a good-looking passenger train pops out, runs past the town, and then disappears again. In the meanwhile, you've been juggling the cars for the local industries by using the "yard", and keeping on your little passing siding when the hotshot comes through. <br /> <br />At the corners of the layout are the natural spots for industry sidings, but you could also have one of these tangential spurs just run right off the table edge, letting it represent a connection to the larger railroad network (an interchange). The set-out track would then primarily be for cars dropped off by this connecting railroad, and those cars could be anything you want. Again, having an industry spur or two to deliver them to makes it more interesting; swap the empties for loads or whatever the case may be, then return the swapped cars to the set-out track to complete the session (you'd just pretend that the other railroad's train came along from somewhere off of your 4x8, and picked them up, when in reality you've just removed them with your 0-5-0 switcher - four fingers and an opposable thumb, that is). <br /> <br />There are plenty of recent Model Railroader 4x8 track plans that feature this kind of operating scheme. If a train show is coming to your area, sometimes you can find dealers selling old issues on the cheap, so just keep your eyes peeled.
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