During the 2015 National Train Show in Portland, discovered a few things, one quite critical, with regard to the operation of the Central End module. The Central End module has enough complexity that it is quite beneficial to get some operational hours with the layout in order to learn what works and what doesn't before you find that it is too late to make some changes. In this photo, the Central End was connected into the rest of the layout with a 30-degree bend module and the power system with DCC controller are visible hiding under that module.
What worked well? Generally speaking, the turnouts performed well along with the controls and I only discovered one pesky intermittent frog electrical switch that I'll definitely have to debug to improve reliability. The trains run nice and smooth over the mainlines, and to the extent that I switched some things around in the yard, that tended to roll smoothly as well. Also, both the DCC and DC power systems along with my mix of MTL and AZL locos worked reliably over the course of the three day event. For added reliability, I only ran the freight cars that have the Fox Valley metal wheels and kept the cars that haven't yet been upgraded in the freight yards as stationary exhibits.
What didn't work? I discovered that while I somehow must of thought that the route through the turnouts entering the passenger station area had character, I clearly missed that the operational reliability of such an arrangement would be very poor.
Referring to the image here, I had many trains fail to successfully make it though the lower turnout in the position shown, especially if the turnout just immediately after was switched to route to the left. As you can clearly see, this is a fairly close spaced double S-bend and unless the cars were quite short, the typically long passenger cars often got tripped up with the opposing tensions.
In conclusion, this needs to be reworked and I'll have to replace the right-hand turnout seen here with a left-hand turnout along with straightening out the route going from the coming out of the lower curve all the way up to the upper turnout seen here. All three turnouts will have to be lifted and re-positioned, of course with the lower turnout flipped. As I don't have any more of these custom turnouts, I'll have to swap this turnout with the one at the other end of the passenger scene (seen below on the left. All the turnouts at the other end will need to be lifted and re-positioned as well given the departing turnout will be swapped to become a right-hand turnout.
The other end of the passenger scene performed quite well as the departing curve is simple and extended in length, no S-bend issues, but alas the need to use the turnout at the left on the other end of the scene means that this whole section will be reworked.
Even given the frustration with the passenger scene entry turnouts, the trains generally ran smooth as I kept the turnouts setup for the totally reliable routes and was able to readily switch off between two passenger lines.