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I have to agree with John here, if you want to run the "big boy", you'll have to either: A) Increase the size of the layout . i sugesst 5x10 if possible as a min, that would give you 28" curves at the extremes, and that "Big Boy" can manage them nicely if you add the easements in as John says. B) go with a 2x16 layout (cutting the 4x8 into 2), either strait or L, and go with a point to point operation. if you go L, go with a min curve of 24". 18" curves are fine for yard work, but you want a mainline, you need to move up, 22" is nice, but again, with the longer cars you'll have potential for derailments (not very often, but it'll happen). 24" really is where you can start running the longer cars and you start to see the trains start to look like they're on real track. I run the longer passenger cars and find that 24" and up is the only way to avoid derailments with them. So I'd say if you can swing it, go with John's 6'x10' with a 2' cutout in the middle. Ask for you're track question, if you want touse E-Z Track or True-track, you can, since this will probably be a testing layout for you. But i'd go with the flex track when you finally decide it's going to be semi-permanant. Laying 36" stretches of Flex allows you the benifits of less wear on the wheels (they're not hitting as many joints, thus limiting misaligns), less noise since the wheels won't be hitting a joint every 9", and it allows you to make curves that benifit your layout without restricting you to pre-fab radius's. I'd say if you want to be proto-typical, go with code 83, but code 100 is fine to, no matter what people say, that extra .17 mm is not even noticeable, unless you've got a stickler out ther with a micrometer checking everything out.
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