Lance Mindeim's "Simple plan, plenty of action" article is quite helpful for those of us with limited space and who enjoy prototypical operation in switching cars. I have all of Lance's books and appreciate the realism he creates on his layouts. I began to operate as he suggests a couple of years ago and it re-energized the enjoyment of my switching pike (8x5x8 "u" shape). I would suggest switching rolling stock (I have 120 cars and use only 36 or so each session), not switching every industry every time, and not using the same number of cars at each industry each time. I use a home-made spinner to determine how many cars one warehouse receives each session (from 2 to 6) and a chart that lists how often some lesser industries are serviced. Staggering these can produce some interesting and challenging sessions, when from 14 to 20 cars may be delivered to the "interchange." With several engines (one at a time being used), each with ESU decoders, prototype speed and sounds enhance the enjoyment.
TRNJ