Well, after not doing much of anything for six weeks, I moved what I had so far into the living room to free up space in the basement for other work. I probably should have done this a month ago.
I went with a modification of the "bus window" track plan, although this diagram is wrong in one respect: I removed the crossover in the back, and now the two ovals are independent (since I'm making one a "train" line I didn't need to cross trams over between the lines to reach the engine house).
I did finish the backdrop off,
using this photo, and I think it came out fairly well.
Someday I'll get back to this and add more scenery than the backdrop and a few Kato buildings dropped on the table, but for now at least I can run trains. Well, "train", as at the moment I haven't hacked up the feeder wires to allow use of some other power pack, so I need to move my sole Tomix pack between the two (that's it with the Variac for 100V power and the switched outlet strip to shut the whole thing off when not in use).
My additional bus system starter sets are due in late August, and that will give me the track and bus stops I need to finish the bus loop (it's missing 140mm and two bus stops at present), as well as more for use with my big layout's Urban Station. And the train I plan to use on the "train" track (Greenmax
JR West 125 Series) isn't due until September. But my Modemo Setagaya trams are going to get a long-overdue workout.
One plus of doing it this way is that I'll have a couple of months (or more) to decide if nested ovals is boring, and I need to do something more complex, or if I'll be happy just running in circles and stopping. I'm easily entertained, so I expect to be happy with running in circles (especially once I add a second power pack, which I do need to do). Without any scenery, trying a different track plan will be fairly easy.
