Great topic. From my earliest 4x8 to my current 8x20 my layout has always been just that-my layout.
I was raised in Martinsburg, West Virginia the Northern Gateway to the Shenandoah Valley so early on I dubbed my layout the Shenandoah Short line and the name has stuck even with some expansion.
My trackage consists of about 200 feet of good old Lionel postwar tubular O Gauge track with O72 curves on the exterior two loops and 031 curves on the interior loop. All of the loops are interconnected. All of the track is hard ballasted and weathered and I used the old "Moondog" black rubber ties to add realism to the track. I have four Lionel modern era O72 switches and four modern era O31 switches.
The Shenandoah Short Line is divided into three distinct railroad districts. The first district consists of a fairly large rail yard facility which supports the railroad's industries which is made up of numerous post-war and modern era Lionel accessories. The second district is the urban area which consists of small industries and a few homes while the last district is the the rural area made up of country homes and farms along with a small wooded area and two mountains.
I currently operate on an alternating basis both TMCC and conventional. I do have the legacy system which I have yet to install. Below are a couple of photos of my layout. It is certainly no modeling extravaganza and actually might be considered rather rudimentary but I have had a great deal of fun with it over the years.
