Layout concept

I'm currently in the benchwork building phase on a mid-sized n-scale layout.  With my limited free time this phase has been ongoing for over a year now and is in my opinion not a particularly interesting phase in the construction of a layout.  I had the idea to stop working on this layout for a few weeks, and concentrate my time on a micro-layout.  By building a micro-layout I could quickly have a small but operational model railroad to amuse myself with, and could practice some n-scale track layout skills.  I first learned about micro-layouts from Carl Arendt's Small Layout Scrapbook a while back, and have been fascinated with how much interesting operation and scenery can be accomplished in a minimal space.  Model Railroad Planning 2003 had an interesting article by Iain Rice about two different 6 ft layouts, the Quincy Railroad in ho-scale, and the Blountstown Florida in n-scale.  I have previously built the Quincy, and have always been intrigued by the Blountstown track plan. I found that the Blountstown plan could be adapted to a southern California theme, producing an interesting layout.  In the way that Iain tends to do with his layout articles, I have made a sketch showing the concept, although not nearly as nice of a sketch as his are.

Micro-layout Concept

• 6 x 1 ft total size.  The main section is  4 x 1 ft.  The smaller section is 2 x 1 ft.  The front half of the smaller section is part of the layout, while the rear section of the smaller section is staging hidden by a building.  By keeping the layout small it will be easy to bring the layout upstairs from the basement, and it can even be hauled elsewhere in the car.
• Railroad: Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF).
• Era: Late 1950s, early 1960s.  Primarily I'm sticking with this era to be able to use the same locomotives and cars as on my mid-sized layout.
• Location: Fictional town of Citrusville in southern California, at the end of a branch line, similar to the San Jacinto branch of the Santa Fe.  Modeling the citrus industry on the ATSF seems to be a somewhat popular location and concept.  I suspect it may have been popularized by Andy Sperandeo's San Jacinto district layout from the early 80s.  I hadn't previously thought much about modeling California or the fruit and produce industries, but after reading a bit about it I thought it seemed like a good subject for a micro-layout.
• Industries and buildings I was interested in including on the layout:
• Fruit/produce packing house.  This is the key industry for a southern California layout.  Iced reefers arrive at the packing house to be quickly loaded and whisked away.
• Cannery.  Canning of fruit and produce was also common in southern California.  This industry gives a bit of variety in that it can take empty cans and labels and inbound loads, and send canned goods outbound in boxcars.
• Manufacturing facility.  Having a manufacturer of some sort could allow for a variety of inbound and outbound loads.  With considerable aerospace manufacturing in southern California this could open an opportunity for interesting flat car loads like wing spars or other airplane parts.
• Ice house and dock.  The ice house is a key component in the fruit and produce shipping operation.  The reefers might get pre-cooled with ice at the ice house before going to the packing house.  After being loaded they might go back to the ice house to get topped off with ice before leaving town.  Sadly, with the limited space on the micro-layout I suspect I may need to leave the ice house as an un-modeled part of the layout, existing only beyond the layout in staging.
• Depot and freight/transfer house.  Every town had a depot during this era, and with my hope of fitting in a small daily passenger train the depot is a must.  The freight house would be nice to fit in, as a destination for all sorts of boxcars carrying LCL freight.
• Engine house.  After creating the sketch I concluded there was no space left for the engine house.  With Citrusville being at the end of the line with a single daily freight, there isn't a need for an engine house for an overnight stay.