You have about 18 ft of run to get below the yard, that's a little over 200 ft. At 2%, that means you will be at a little more than 4' clearance below the yard. how thick is your roadbed and benchwork? If its more than a 1/2 total you will be in trouble. Also since the yard will be right above the stacging you won't have room for ANYTHING to protrude below the yard (wires, nails, switch linkages, nada). Also you will have hidden staging with minimal clearance to stub end staging. I guarantee your operators will spend the entire time the train is coming in or out of staging on their knees peering into the 4" gap between decks for their trains.
An alternative is to move the whole yard 1 foot to the right and put a 1 ft wide staging yard behind the switching yard with a low backdrop between them, just high enough that when you are standing in front of the layout you can't see over it to the staging yard but if you stand on a step stool you can see the whole yard. You can also put a little mirror on the ceiling as a cheap "detector" for the operators to see when their trains have cleared. It will also require a crossing (somewhere to the left of Willard). This solution also removes any grade problems.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Could be more yard than you need compared to the rest of the visible trackage. What is the clearance to the staging tracks and what is the grade of the connections between staging and visible layout?
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
I posted my initial layout design ideas earlier this year and got a lot of good feedback from you guys. Since I'm (finally) getting close to laying some track, I'm posting my latest version for your comments, suggestions, critiques.
It's HO, around the walls of a 10x20 room, twice-around with lower level staging, central Wisconsin in the late 1960's - loosely based on the Soo Line in and around Marshfield. I'm aiming for look-and-feel, not strict prototype since I'm definitely an amateur.
Here's what I have...
What I don't like? I think it's a little too much trackwork for small town WI railroading. I want enough to support two person ops, though my co-operator is only in second grade right now, but not too much. Do you think there's too much trackwork? If so, any suggestions on where I could simplify? Of course, any general suggestions and critique are welcome also. Thanks in advance for any advice.
Dave