I've designed and built several switching layouts in various scales. Each time I've tried to maximize use of space for switching I've ended up disappointed. Each new one I design seems to get simpler and less complicated with more focus on scenery and less on absolute amount of switching. I'm not a fan of switching "puzzles" unless they are being used as a game like the original Timesaver was. It was never intended to be a standalone switching layout. I do think a runaround can add some nice interest but I don't want a switchback on a siding that required me to pull cars from an industry just so I can use that track as a switching lead for another track. Many people do this and try to justify it by saying it gives them more to do. I find that after a while I don't try to switch that other industry anymore. It gets old.
One thing that you can do is have 3 or 4 car spots at an industry. You could also try 2 industries on the same siding but have a lone spot for one of them. This does happen occasionally in the real world. I like having at least 3 spots serving at least 1 industry and perhaps 2 at another. An occasional lone spot at one here and there is fine but on a smaller layout I'd rather have more spots and fewer industries. It sounds weird I know. I'd rather do it this way than have 5 industry locations with 1 car spot each. With multiple spots each loading dock door may require a certain car though so make it into more than just shoving 3 cars on the siding and being done with it. Perhaps they need to be spotted in a certain order. Perhaps you need to pull a car or 2 out, re-spot another one to a different door and then leave another car or 2 at the other doors. One industry can keep you busy for quite a while. If you have a couple that are like this things can get very busy. Maybe you need to move a car from one industry spot to another one. You could have a storage or holding track where you drop off a car to the track and then move one from that track to an industry spot.
You can quickly see how even a simple layout with a small number of sidings can actually be a lot of work to run even without any switchbacks or puzzle like features. It leaves more room for scenery as well and if done right could actually be made to feel quite large.
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