The B&M called their 2-10-2, mudsucker. They either carried an elasco feed water heater or a coffin type  very ugly   

it doesn't take much to give the impression of depth, the back ground buildings that walthers produces are still too big for a shelf layout, their printed  back ground would work great on chop stick or just pictures of buildins If you need 1" between the track center and a building edge that doesn't give you a lot of room to work with thats why paper thin buildings would work

your rusty trusty nmra gauge would give you the distance the thin building should be away from the track an help you get the position for the holes for the chop sticks. This idea is for the cheap and innovate modeler. After all you can only see one side of a building at a time to fit in the plastic sleeves you keep the buildings around 6" wide or unfoldable to 6" Again for a time saver style layout smaller is better

MY biggest suggestion would be to keep it simple at first and as you grow in the hobby make it as complex as you want. Some good ideas can be found here

When I was a kid their was a lumber company near my home and it had a time saver as a way of switching cars in the l.umber yard. Dearing lumber had a very bad fire in the late 50's that close the north south B&M commuter line, Though Melrose, Mas for a day or 2 Since the fire all the track was paved over for parking for the nearby train station. I sent an idea to bar mills for a way to scenic such a narrow lay out Paper thin buildings glued to chop stick that could be place the correct distance from the tracks. After all scenery is just  a perception at best
if your siding is 2 cars long you can have 2 buildings there and they would hide every thing behind them any way. Paper thin buildins could be store in plastic sleeves with their chop stick supports still attached in a 3 ring binder and changed as needed

and another of our lost friends has been found. I got a call from Bob Osburn the other night . Like me he had computer problems He sounds great but has lost almost all of his sight. He still loves the hobby but has limited ability now because of his lose of sight Yampa bob still lives in Craig Colorado

I saw the Inglnook siding but thought that the time saver would be more fun as I built one with  all hand laid code 70 rail on Campbell ties and it is still operating on my brothers layout. It would be too big for what I can have because I used a 4' x2 plywood and homesot. I only have 10" by 60" to play with. I have all ready made my track plane with code 83 track using wyes not #4

I like this site too

http://www.wymann.info/ShuntingPuzzles/sw-timesaver.html

I feel okay, just can't do much. My right hand is good for a paper weight thougth

I had another stroke that put me in a nursing home. I still have model railroadinging on the mind and hope to get a small John Allen type time saver going here. shortly