I would go for a loop nowadays. Mara Harbor is designed point to point and for operations during shows I need a couple of guys to come along as operator. Most of the time a crew of 4. I'm building a new layout at the moment with switching possibilities but also 2 loops for contineous running. So the audience will see trains running when you're talking..
Well as always i have a lot to think about.I have talked to my son and he wants to build 4 modulars like mine and hook them up at a show.We have a lot of talking to do over Xmas break.We leave for 4 days with no electronic devices allowed.So i will wish everyone best wishes to you all for the rest of the year,no matter of your choice in life.I hope i said that without saying anything bad. Richard
Do your NCE devices happen to be Powercabs (I am guessing yes)? If so, with the purchase of an NCE USB interface you can use JMRI to send commands to the NCE Powercab and then on to the layout. The great news is once you have JMRI working with the Powercab, you can start the wi-throttle portion of JMRI and connect with an IOS device or Android device and use those as wireless throttles!
I went one step further and have gone completely BPRC. See my first loco and Christmas layout in this thread:
If you have questions along the way I would be happy to help if I can. BTW, I may well get to an indoor On30 module layout before I get to my permanent larger outdoor layout (something temporary may appear starting next week) and I would do the same there, namely BPRC.