As for the lion chief remote, I remember someone in the past mentioning an addition of hard stops to the casing in order to stop the handwheel. I don't remember how it was done. I do know that to get a lion chief remote apart you have to pull the knob off first, which isn't easy. I think there was something about adding screw posts through the casing the some how had travel stops for the knob. It may have been @Lee Willis who came up with it as he was an early advocate lionchief motive power.
If you really want the remote stationary, take them apart and build them into something like a radio shack project box that you can mount to the fascia. I do agree that unless you have multiple copies of the same engine, this will hamper your ability to swap things out and keep equipment moving.
As to the layouts, I see two different purposes. Both meet the requirements of two trains and crossovers that you set out. The updated one brings all the switching to one side, presumably the front, which is great for a display layout that is mostly accessible from just one side. since accidents and derailments are most likely to happen at the switches, this makes sense. If it were a home use layout with walk around access I would go for the first plan as it spreads out the action more. I like them both, but I think your updated plan will be great for your intended purpose. Plus for kids, having parallel tracks a good portion of the way around allows for "racing." And for kids, racing trains is a great thing!
