Thanks Allan for the shelving advice. That is worth considering. I do have a bit of an investment going in Glenn Snyder shelves though. I may be able to hang them up but not until most of major benchwork construction is done.
I have been playing around with some 3 rail trackplans based on my past layout. Here is one that is L-shaped with a two track main and a freight switching branch. I have to be honest and say I'm just a loop runner. I like to run big steam so an oval design like this gives me maximum straights and curves. There are no grades on the mains but it might be worth trying to grade separate the front yard an inch or so, and maybe even step up the spur along the back wall.
This plan gives me old layout back with a chance to make the distances seem even greater along the mains. I can space the scenery out a bit more with the added 14 feet in length. I gain a bit more depth compared to the old layout but not much. I am liking the stretched steam era engine yard as opposed to my old folded one. I am stuck with duckunders but I like the depth of scenery this design offers. I also get to raise the layout height a bit compared to my old one.
I am definitely open to ideas if anyone's willing to take a look. I also have an around the walls rough plan with the engine yard coming down as a peninsula. I like it for the fact there are no duckunders. I have written off staging at this point but wouldn't mind a plan that might allow for it to be added later.
Some things to note - my center beam is actually offset about 22" in favor of the layout width. I am keeping the layout at least 3' away from the support columns (shown as black dots).
I attached the RRT file. I am running v4.02.
