Jan, a yard lead on the left-hand side of the yard to allow switching service from both directions would have to cramp the space for the turntable and whiskers, and would need its own lift-out bridge across the access passage. All of that to avoid a runaround move of a switcher? If your idea is to have a switcher "posted" to the left side of the layout just for these moves, couldn't a switcher from the engine terminal already on the left-hand side accomplish this?
I am thinking that a switcher on the right side can assemble a cut of cars on the top yard track, and a switcher from the engine service area can push the cars into the car storage tracks. Seems simple.
As mentioned, I discussed with Rick connecting the upper track to the lower level, but he decided against it. The grade(s) would take up a lot of real estate. Here is one version where I played with the idea of inclining the outer main line (at the bottom of the plan) to reach the level of the "High Line" (which was at 6" in this plan), to make a connection.
