A 10 year old topic, but always relevent.
I have come to learn about myself, that having built an ISL, I really don't like intricate switching chores. As in spurs, and worse, switchbacks. So I heavily revamped the layout so that 4 of the 5 industrues on my layout have through tracks or sidings, and one of those does also have a short spur. Five revenue customers, 4 with thru sidings, only one served by just spurs, and they are pretty long. That dictates that rather large customers be served. It just LOOKS BETTER now.
Staging can hold 6 trains. Now my storage yard isn't overcrowded, it became property of the largest industry, a lumber mill.
But still, for the sake of the topic...
I noticed, here in Bend Oregon, and probably in every town of any size, there exists in the 1/1 world, one other possible industry that modern layouts can have with very little real estate and structure, portland cement transfer station. Covered hoppers in, bulk cement semi trailers out.
No storage structures, the hoppers do that. Just the compact electrically ran (maybe pneumatic) loading equipment is visibly present at the immediate location, I don't know where the office is. Like a team track, whenever driving by this place, all you see is 2-5 covered hoppers, and usually only one or even no trucks at any given time. Two at most. How easy is that?
Dan