R. MARTIN,
Hope you didn't think I was ignoring you. I didn't respond to your track plan because frankly, being just a newbie (8 months) in this great hobby, I don't know enough to comment on it. I will say this though...all those Y's scare me. I'd hate to have to wire that up. You obviously are way ahead of me!:thumb:
Now to answer your other questions about my layout:
The track is all laid (Atlas code 83 flex and custom-line turnouts)
I am modeling the transition era 1940-50's so I will eventually run both steam and diesel (emphasis on steam).
This is a really long thread so I don't blame you for not going back too far, But if you skip around a little, you will get a "flavor" of what everyone has done here. I say everyone because this really was (is) a group project and I could not do without every one's encouragement and insight. I hope this helps. I encourage you to start a thread on this forum and post your track plan. You will get a lot of feed back.:thumb: