Sorry for a rather hard to make out picture...I'll take a better one soon. Much of the detail was lost as was some of the track layout.
The layout measures 70" x 38".
My prime goal was: Keep everything light weight and accessable - my young kids would be the prime users and I wanted all switch controls and turnout locations easy to reach so if there are any derailments, they'd be able to see it quickly, stop the operations and fix the problem.
I used a finished interior door (cut to size) for a rigid surface that would allow the kids to move it without any problems. When picked up, the door does not flex or bend. (Note: after cutting an interior door you end up cutting off the rigid wood and the end of the door. Unless something is done, this will allow the door face to bend...the cardboard honeycomb inside of this type of door isn't strong enough to prevent the flexing and bending. I found a common yard stick is the perfect answer. Cut to length, it exactly fits inside the door faces and can be glued in place giving the end of the cut section of door the rigidity it needs.) I installed furniture glides on the bottom of the door to allow them to slide it easily under a bed...therefore the height was also controlled so that no structure/mountain would exceed 10 inches finished height. The entire layout (I'm guessing) weighs less than 12 lbs. Everything (trees/ballast/structures) is glued in place so that they could turn it upside down and nothing should fall off. Only the vehicles are not glued in place.
Both freight and passenger operations are possible allowing a passenger train to park on a siding while the mainline freight train blasts by (sorry, that is not pictured). The switching area is small - again to allow my kids to move small numbers of rolling stock between the shipping/manufacturing buildings (we're a few buildings short yet...more to come). The track is blocked to allow (after I buy a second power pack) one engine to "feed" cars to the mainline engines. When completed, the switch engine will move cars from the industry area to the blocked track portion and leave them there. A freight train engine will pick the car up and add it to it's string and continue on its way. A passenger train will wait on the siding by the passenger station (located at the extreme south of the layout just out of the picture) until the freight train is parked and make a loop around the layout. This is simple and basic, but right in line with the kids can handle now. I can have one switching cars while the other runs the mainline. And since they like as many engines as possible on the layout at one time, and because I wanted to use all the track I bought leaving nothing left over, I created a seperate parking area for an engine and small string of cars (an engine repair shop will be there one day). Normally, I'll park an engine and cars there running opposite the normal clockwise operation - just to give them something interesting to think about and break up the routine. It also gives them some interesting switching problems to figure out.
Blue insulation board was used to create the hills. I didn't finish them smooth because everyone liked the rugged/jagged look to them. There are no elevation changes anywhere on the layout.
No wires can been seen...all wiring is routed through and under the board. All the track/switches are Bachmann EZ track. The switch controls are all connected and (it sounds crazy but works well) velcro'd to the side of the door so the kids never have to look away while the trains are in operation. (There are no provisions to mount the Bachmann switch controls...so instead of opening them up and drilling holes to mount them...industrial strength velcro solved the problem). They are also wired together and grouped logically. (I guess I did it right because my 6 yr old understands it).
That's about it. Not as elaborate as some, but right in line for what we needed. Right now, this is a non-DCC operation - but some of the engines are "DCC ready" so if we ever graduate, we'll have a selection of engines available (after modifying the track properly). I can also add to the layout in the future with minor modifications by adding some turnouts in key areas to create an "L" or "T" shaped layout as space permits.
What's left to do??? Adding to the scenery, realistic detailing, people, vehicles, do something with the water (that turned into a black lagoon looking thing - I'm convinced only God can create realistic looking water because I certainly can't), more detailing...it's a long list but that's what I like working on while the kids have fun running things.
But as always...any ideas about operations or scenery would be appreciated. I'm still pretty new and learning...and this is my first layout so I'll thankfully take all suggestions you more experienced guys may give.