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There is a lot of selective compression in this hobby. 18" radii found in most set supplied HO railroads were created so folks could have a railroad without eating up alot of household realestate. To get a railroader you got to get your train running and manufactures try to make their sets to address the new comers concerns. More advance model railroaders will not have any curve less than 24" radii or even larger numbers and no swithes (turnouts) less than a #6 or larger. <br />No one so far wants to do a grade representing a climb of 1000 vertical feet (11.5 feet) so they use helixes to another level and tell you its such and such which is 1000 feet higher then the track below. <br />Now for oval. Ovals do exist in prototypical railroads. I've seen them in several cities and they serve industrial area. Spokane, WA has a couple of them. The suggestion above on how else to dress up an oval are also good. <br />Check out the Atlas website for other plans that will also fit on a 4x8 sheet. You will most likely be limted to #4 turnouts and 18" radii but there is still plenty to learn as you develop your ideas of what you really want. Things to play with on this small layout would be bench work, flex track, power blocks, switch machines, track bed, ballasting and everything else to dress it up with out being over whelmed because you bit off more than you could chew. My current layout is an oval with switching yard, crossing track for reverse loop, industrial spur and maintenance spur with round table (Atlas plan #10 with modification). It has 15 powered switches. None needed to be powered but I wanted to learn and felt this would be salvagable for the next layout. <br />
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