Southern Pacific Switching Layout

[torikoos]

I do not believe a class I railroad would spend an extra engine sitting and rusting on that track for years to handle 5 cars per week. The CFO will find a way to prevent that

Of course, in your model world, you could replace the board of directors of your RR with that of train enthusiasts, and don't mind having an engine sitting there for the railfans :-) It's your railroad , and depending what degree of prototypical operations/realism you want, you can 'bend' the truth a little, and enjoy it 'YOUR WAY'. :-)
From there, you can always progress to more prototypical operations, as you learn about the subject matter, and therefore your view changes, your enjoyment changes etc.

Koos