Final track plan look

I don't intend to keep talking about this, but here's a few options for a 4x8 track plan that I like pretty well.  The images themselves are (sometimes) of poor quality, but the trackplans can still be "divined" from them, mostly without too much trouble.  Let me talk briefly about what I like about each.

The Jerome & Southwestern Railroad

The Jerome & Southwestern RR, the one I've talked about a few times so far recently.  This is a low-res scan, but of course, I actually have the book that it's scanned from that I can refer to, so that doesn't bother me too much.  In addition to the traditional (albeit somewhat freeform) classic loop around the table, it's got passing sidings on both of the long edges, a reverse loop so you can change direction, a very long Y-shaped spur and a much shorter spur.  It also has elevated track; the long spur goes up over much of the rest of the route, and it has tunnels to hide passage and create the illusion of greater travel (and less looping) and as you can see, it has two spurs that go off on to the Back Alley & Wharf RR expansion that would be up to the top left (although unfortunately, I don't have a scan of that track plan.  I do have the book with me today, though—maybe I'll grab a quick picture of it with my phone and add it later.)

While of course the scenery can be done differently, I also like the below the table elements that allows for big bridges and/or trestles, even without elevating the track; although the track is also elevated later on, of course.  All in all, this plan allows for a lot going on in a small space, which is ideal.

The Dunnow & Hoocares Silver Branch Railroad

Speaking of which, although the tunnel expression of the eastern end of this loop isn't shown, it's obvious that this is the same track plan flipped, rotated and placed in a different scenic context.  This shows what can be done with a track plan to "own it" and make it your own.

The Lime Ridge, Hercules & Portland Railroad

This is another nice one from an older collection by Linn Westcott, who—holy cow—has been dead for nearly forty years now.  But he wrote a number of books that I still had in my collection back in the 80s when I was first reading them (he was already dead by then, even.  He died in 1980.)  Westcott was the developer of such techniques as L-girder benchwork, hardshell scenery and zip-texturing, all of which I first read about in his primer book, HO Railroad that Grows and read about in more detail in other books like McLanahan's scenery book, etc.  This one lacks passing sidings, which is too bad, because I think they add a lot if you're running more than one train at a time (although they add very little if you're not), but it has a slightly more complicated spur, and the loop is twisted to kind of go in on top of itself, effectively doubling it's mainline length, which I think is really quite clever and neat.

I don't think I like it quite as much as the J&SW.  Of course, it could be modified by turning the weird spur up there by "Pit Tower" into a passing siding, so there's at least one, and the Hercules spur could be extended to to all the way over to Lime Ridge nearly.  Combined with the spurs that go off into an expansion, that would actually make the doubled loop really cool, and allows it to not take away from other operational possibilities too much.  I still like a good reverse loop, but that could be on the expansion section instead, if desired.

The Nantahala & Smoky Mountain Gorge Railroad

This is the other one that potentially vies with the J&SW as one to build off of, although it's readily apparent that it's a very similar plan in most respects—it does have the double passing sidings, a long spur (although it's location is somewhat different than that of the J&SW), a couple of shorter spurs, as well as a folded loop on top of itself, like the one above.  I like the elevation options; although it has one of them under a mountain, the scenery could, of course, be rearranged differently to have a dramatic bridge crossing right there.

It also lacks a reverse loop, even though it looks like it has one; you have to follow the mainline very closely to see that it doesn't.  There also isn't really an option to include one, because the pretzeled up loop takes up too much real estate as it is.

I'm not a huge fan of using the crossovers, but only the one in the middle of the table really stands out; the other one on the sidings is more discrete.  I'm also not entirely sure where those shorter sidings in the southeast corner could possibly go unless they're merely holding tracks or something; you couldn't possibly fit any kind of industry there where it's already crammed next to the mainline and to each other.  And I could probably eliminate the middle crossover by elevating one of those branches, or keeping one of them elevated long enough to cross over the other, or something—although based on the track plan, both are already elevated now.  Maybe one of them can come down to cross under the other, or something.

Like the one above, this would need to add two spurs in the southeast to allow the track to go into the expansion area

UPDATE: What maybe I'm evolving to like even more is a modification to the LRH&P RR.  What if I took that weird two-way vaguely T-shaped (except with a very short stem and very long top) spur and turned it into a passing siding?  Also, add short spur coming off of that passing siding into the center of the table.  Then, take the spur that goes to Hercules, and extend it nearly across the table (more like the J&SW spur that goes diagonally across the table, in fact.)  Put attachment tracks that would go off into an expansion, in pretty much the exact same fashion as the J&SW track plan, and then what I've managed to do is get nearly all of the operational complexity of the latter, but with the doubled pretzel loop, which gives me also more opportunities for dramatic showcases of tracks nearby but at different elevations either running next to each other or cross over each other, etc.

Keep in mind, however, that that track plan has a minimum curve radius of 15", which is quite small.  It doesn't bother me too much, as I'd prefer to use older, smaller engines and rolling stock; if I ever put a steam engine bigger than an 0-6-0 on the line, I'd be surprised, and I'd actually prefer 0-4-0s.  Older rolling stock less than 40 scale feet is a must as well.  So I can probably handle the 15" curves, but the question is—would I want to?