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Being a dinosaur sure makes it easy, I can use a pencil, compass and straight edge ruler to design track work. I downloaded right track from Atlas and fooled around with it a few times. I found it complicated and quickly gave-up on it as I can do as good or better with the simple tools mentioned. I was really only untested in playing with a CAD program. I hope other CAD programs are more intuitive and easier to use than Right Track. However, the price is right, for Right Track, nothing! I know nothing of Bachmann's steel or nickle silver track. Atlas is the standard in the industry and you can't go wrong. Sectional track is for kids, so they can lay track out on the floor and get trains running. You will find the less joints your track work has, the less problems you will have. Each joint is an electrical connection and also holds the potential for derailments. Rail does move with temperature variations and road bed and layout wooden structure moves with humidity, so every joint will "WORK" over time, becoming less and less reliable. Less joints = better reliability. I am a dinosaur, however, I try not to be an ogre. There are many CAD programs on the market. If CAD "turns your crank", go for it! I just think with all the other things to buy when starting out, you need to know it ain't necessary! With 18-22 inch radius, there is only so much you can do with a 4 X 8. A good point would be to consider that many very smart model railroaders with lots of time in the hobby have already designed numerous excellent 4 X 8 layouts that would likely be better than anything you might design. They understand the hobby and have thought about and designed into their layouts possibilities which you haven't yet considered. I think a 4 X 8 is the way to start out and it is easy enough to make provisions for a 4 X 8 to become a part of a larger layout if that becomes the direction you want to go.
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