So much track, so little space

I wanted the Piney Creek Branch to occupy less than 12" of layout depth to not eat up so much room space. I'd like to have a tv/reading nook in this area.

As it turns out, 12" for this branch is going to be quite crowded considering what else passes through this section of layout. There's Piney Creek itself, there's the C&O branchline and its associated mines, and as the infomercials say, "but wait, there's more!".

I've laid out a few pieces of flex track to show what's where. Far left against the wall will be two tracks of hidden staging representing the Terry mine (joins the branch just off the right of this photo) and top center is the branch itself. The two at bottom right are the mainlines west of Stretcher's Neck. Going west from Prince, they enter the tunnel and will be obscured by a low backdrop as the branch crosses the river. They descend as the branch ascends, finally reaching sufficient height to cross over at this corner. The mains return to view for operator confidence, but only as a slot in the fascia providing access for derailment cleanup and track cleaning. They continue like this until at least Raleigh where I may return them to a true lower level with scenery. All hidden / non-scenic track will be Atlas Code 80 for cost savings whereas the rest of the layout is Atlas Code 55.