I made a start on one of the 2 new fiddle yards for the layout. They utilise home-made storage cassettes which locate using 2 brass bolts - again home-made. As well as aligning the tracks, these bolts also pass the current top the track on the cassette.
The fiddle yard is just a flat table made from MDF sheet(homasote?), raised at one end with 1/4" plywood to raise the track level to that of each cassette. I have also added side panels to prevent stock accidentally falling off.
There is also a raised end-piece so that the 2 fiddle yards can be bolted together to form a box for transporting.
The bolts - I soldered brass tube to copper-clad sheet, which is screwed to the raised portion of the fiddle yard. The track is also soldered down and a portion of the copper-clad has been removed to stop short circuits occurring.
Each cassette is made from strips of 1/4" plywood with cork sheet glued on. I pinned flexi-track down and secured each end to copper-clad with the same brass tube. Aluminium angle was screwed to the sides to protect the stock and there are also lifting handles and movable end stops to prevent stuff rolling off.
Instead of painting the inside of your staging consider a backdrop so when that photo is taken again it looks like the train is emerging from anothe industrial area. You could use a simple picture backdrop or buiding flats made out of foamboard.
Over here in the UK, MDF looks and feels like thicker hardboard (homasote?), while chipboard is an entirely different - and heavier - product, with visible wood chips in it - I hate using the stuff as it expands when damp causing all sorts of problems.
