Sean,
Re; roadblocks - yes, that’s exactly what it felt like to me. Cubase is SO different from Sonar in SO many ways. BUT, if you stick with it, you may find, like I have, that Cubase will allow you to do everything Sonar does, and more. There are some very powerful features lurking below the surface.
In the case of the buss issue, you’ve probably learned that a “Buss” is a “Group Track” in CB. The solution for separating the tracks and group tracks is found in the left Zone of the MixConsole. There is a “Zones” tab at the bottom of the Visibility Tab (yes - it’s confusing). The Zones tab has three dots which determine where your tracks/channels will appear. To mimic Sonar, put all your Group tracks/channels on the right side by clicking the rightmost dot, and your other tracks on the left. However, unlike Sonar, you could reverse the process or mix it up anyway you like. Yes, it’s clunky, but once you get the hang of it, no big deal. That’s the ‘charm’ of CB. See pg 362 of manual. (Manual is not my fave part of CB, btw.) HTH