Laurel is just a connection point for the Frannie Cutoff into the NP Mainline. No effort has been undertaken to model any of the real features, except for the general scenery of the area.
Laurel also represents Scottsbluff, Nebraska, as a staging yard for trains bound east from Orin on the CB&Q Wendover - Torrington and eastbound line.
The track in Laurel:
The top is north in this diagram.
Laurel will have relatively simple scenery - it's purpose is to support the operation of the railroad, and to occasionally let me run really BIG trains that won't fit on the rest of the railroad.
This diagram is slightly out of date, as there are no engine facilities shown here. They were a later addition to the plan.
In early planning for operations, I came to the conclusion that I need a turntable at Laurel, to allow locomotives on Burlington trains from Frannie to turn around and head back with a new consist headed into Wyoming. I also probably will need a dedicated switcher - it looks like Laurel, acting as both Laurel and Scottsbluff, may wind up handling a lot of trains. Engine facilities will include yhe turntable and other basic servicing facilities.
In this early 2004 shot, We're looking at the beginnings of Laurel, Montana. This shot is taken from the unattached end of the peninsula, which is the west end of Laurel.
In this late March 2004 shot, we see the first train into Laurel - it's a "work" train on the curve that leads around a support post near the west end of Laurel yard (check the picture above - we're looking down the track from the opposite direction).
It's January 2005, and we can see that significant progress has been made in Laurel. Here's Doodlebug 9099 just leaving Laurel in this photo from January 2005. Comparing it to the photos above, you can see that progress is being made, although it's agonizingly slow!