A thought on the yard, you still have an "S" curve. Depending on the radius, could you replace the first curved section on the penisula with a corresponding switch and start the ladder there?
I think the width of the lower section could be reduced, it is only scenery and you can do a lot in 12 inches. On the other hand the area at the top with the scrap yard could be widen to give you more room for detailing.
I would not have the interchange have the facing section as on the left side. I would make the interchange track as longer and possibly two tracks side by side. My operation would be to have inbound cars come off the interchange and be set out at the online industries. Then the pickups from the industries would go to the interchange. I would like an interchange track long enough to hold all the cars needed to serve all the industries.
If the interchange was long enough and it looks like it is, I would have cars "layover" there one operating session. In other words I would pull one track for this operating session, and fill it back. then next session I would pull the other interchange track and fill it. That way cars going on the interchange are not popping right back the next you switch. And you don't have to handle them by hand if you just use alternate tracks.
I envision two jobs. Job 1 would be for a train to take the outbound cars from the yard to the interchange and set them out. then bring back the cars from the interchange to the yard and perhaps sort them for easy switching at the industries. The other job would take inbound cars from the yard and deliver them to the industries and pick up the outbounds at the industries and take them to the yard for the next interchange job. You would start by staging cars on the interchange and also a set of inbounds and a set of outbounds in the yard. Then put appropriate cars at the various industries. Maybe you run 5-8 car trains. The train lengths will be what you like.
Another slightly different option is to not have a yard at all. Just have maybe one track for a caboose or some storage and the engine house and one or two more industries. Then run only job, A crew would get an engine at the engine house and a caboose (if you RR uses them) and go around the industries doing pickups. Then they would go to the interchange, pull one of the interchange tracks, and set out what they just picked up. Then they would go back around to the industries and setout the cars that were just picked up.
You will want some sort of simple car routing system. The most simple I think is you just replace car type for car type. For example a if you pickup up a boxcar, you put a different boxcar off the interchange in that spot and do the same for Gondolas etc. Or you get fancy and use car cards with waybills, or a switchlist that you may generate with computer software or write by hand.
