A distraction

I hate getting distracted. But in my model railway world it happens all too often.
I’ll get working on a project (like I am with my Cuddle micro) and all of a sudden a new idea pops into my head.
This is due to expanding my “Top Ten” layouts list to 15 to include a Neil Rushby box file design.
I ended up sketching an idea to expand the layout into a drawer. Simply because I have a drawer that would fit a micro layout.

An innocuous sketch

Quite pleasant, it was nothing more than a harmless doodle. Then I found this remarkable image.

A not so innocuous photograph

Somewhere in the Derbyshire Peak District, a primitive crushing plant that ground limestone for farmers fields. The whole image is dripping with atmosphere. It’s the kind of scene, that if Roye England had been cycling the Peak District, instead of the Vale of the White horse. Would have found its way into Pendon. There’s so much that screams out in this image. The dusty gravel road, the rundown crusher building, and that utterly majestic tree. The picture being taken in the winter, shows the structure of the branches to full effect. How could one not want to model this scene? Even if there is no railway in it.
No matter, I’ll just re-arrange the features in  the picture, and see if I can fit them in.
It made sense to me, as the layout is so small that a full size plan was in order. Working with 4mm scale PECO track as the basis and the only turnout being a Y to save space. The whole thing seemed to fit together rather nicely.

And a full size plan 

The highest point point in the landscape would be upper left, as you look at the image and  the lowest point along the right hand edge. The crushing shed is at the back in low relief. Wagons could be cable shunted in and out of the there, fed from the wagon turntable. A couple of smaller sheds, connected by a dusty gravel road complete the scene so far. Sadly, the majestic tree has not found its way into the scheme yet. That’s not to say it couldn’t. Especially as the board I marked this out on is about an inch and a half too short.

As it’s drawn, even in this tiny space, it could be a two locomotive layout.
A wheezy, ancient locomotive from the quarry would shove a loaded wagon onto the turntable. Where it could be hauled into the crusher for processing. Loaded wagons of larger stones could be picked off the turntable, and hauled away to the main line by another, less ancient, locomotive.
I’m definitely curious as to if this would make a workable layout. I can’t afford to have two layouts on the go at the same time. Can I?