Ok here is my entry into the RR design.
I prefer small designs, as it can often take years to finish a small corner of a basement layout, I prefer to build em and run em. My layout design is based on a fictious line called the East Greensburg RR which would run from the old Pennsy mainline somewhere between Greensburg, PA and Latrobe, Pa and would be a coal hauling rr. The date would be 1982, early conrail with some PC thrown in for variety.
I nunbered some of teh key parts of the layout, some of these did not exist in 1982, but modeller's license allows for variety.
1. Avolio food distributors (actually located in Jeanette, PA but without rail access)
2. Lenox specialty glass (actually located in Mt. Pleasant and again no direct rail access in real life)
3. Engine shop area
4. Seven Springs coal #2
5. Interchange and classification yard with Conrail.
I imagine that this line would have been sold off by Conrail early on to Westmoreland and Fayette Counties but still operated and maintained by Conrail. Chief commodity would be coal, followed by imports of raw sand for the glass factory, and refigerator cars for Avolio foods. On one side is a forested mountain scene seperated by a backdrop of a small town on the other.
Hope everyone likes the design.
Ed