Looking for MR article on making industrial (paved) yard using styrene sheets - Model Railroader Magazine

When doing the layout work for putting "paved" roads around (and/or over) tracks, I tape a large piece of paper over the area, then add marks and notes for reference points where the paper is attached - this allows it to be taken off and then place correctly back in its exact original position, whenever needed.

To accurately indicate the position of tracks, I use a pencil, laying it almost horizontal with the "ground", with the lead portion against the outer top-edge of the rail. 

I then repeat this for the inside edges of the rails if that area is to be "paved" too.

The paper can then be cut along the sharpest side of the pencil lines, then taped in placed on the sheet styrene, so that the pattern can then be drawn directly on the plastic.

For the pieces which go between the rails, whether they're road crossings or portions of paved areas with tracks, the between-the-rails areas need to be narrower than the rubbed pencil lines indicate, to leave room for the wheel flanges of locomotives and rolling stock.

On the crossings shown in the photos, those pieces fit in the space between the moulded-on spike heads of Atlas code 83 track and turnouts. That width is .528".

If those crossings were blown up to full size, the .060" thick styrene between the rails is .023" lower than the railheads...roughly the equivalent of 2", as bad or worse than some real crossings. 
I suppose that I could have used .080" sheet styrene for those areas, but the LPDs (Little Plastic Drivers) haven't yet complained.

The .060" thick sheets are almost perfect for the pavement outside the rails, though, as they sit atop the moulded-on spikeheads.  This places that pavement .013" below the railhead, which means that if you're manually cleaning track (I seldom do, except after ballasting or adding track-side ground cover, using a very fine abrasive pad, meant for cleaning electrical contact points), so the track cleaner won't touch the "pavement" at all...no scuffed-off paint. 

All of the paved areas shown in my earlier photos are atop plywood, so they're cemented to the plywood using gelled contact cement.
To get maximum adhesion, I used lacquer thinner and a 1" brush to "prep" the styrene - this allows the contact cement to better bond to the styrene, and none of the pavement has lifted or come loose in the many years since the roads were installed. 
Since most lacquer thinner nowadays is less aggessive on styrene, I'd recommend MEK as an alternative prep if you're planning on gluing-down your styrene pavement using contact cement.

I've also done some crossings with "planks" between the rails and a couple outside each rail...

Unfortunately, I used drywall mud for the "pavement", which is easily marked or damaged.
The "planks" are strip styrene of appropriate widths and thickness, distressed with a few passes of a razor saw, then painted with a creosote-coloured paint.

Another option is gravelled crossings.  The ones shown here use "creosoted planks" on the outsides of the rails, and similar planks inside the rails, to keep the gravel out of the flangeways...

...while the one below has the gravel run right to the outsides of the rails, with the flangeways protected using .080" angle iron from Evergreen...

Wayne