1) Whether it is smart to do a rectangular table with a loop of track on it depends on what kind of space you have available for your layout. If the space you have available is where you formerly had a ping-pong table, a rectangular table with aisles on at least three sides (both long sides and one short end) can work.
If you have less space or space that will have to be up along a wall at one long side, try a different footprint - preferably one that leaves as much as possible of the room available for co-existence with other uses of the room.
A classic walk-around 5x9 foot layout will totally eat up all floor space in a 9 x 11 foot bedroom - allowing no other use of the room - not even shelves on the walls, since you need headroom while using the aisle around the layout.
The same room would possibly support far more scenes for a surround style layout - whether you cut a 30" wide operator pit/aisle in the middle of the table or whether you move the layout out to the walls:
2) You can do two visually very different scenes on a rectangular layout - especially if you make it possible to use a vertical view block/dividing wall down along the spine of the table, so you have to walk around the table to see the other scene.
The illusion gets better if the ends of the layout also have view blocks, so you can't see down along the central divider and see both scenes at the same time.
Splitting a rectangular table layout into two scenes with a backdrop/view blocking small wall means that you absolutely must have access aisles on both sides of the table - not much point in having backside scene you cannot see or get to.
You can get even better visual separation of scenes if you can arrange your layout so the two scenes are on opposite sides of
you - one in front of you and one behind you - i.e. some kind of walk-in or duck-in pit in the middle of the layout for the person running the trains and the persons watching the trains run.
Doing a figure 8 loop on a table will make it very hard to create visually believable separation of scenes - unless what you are trying to model is an amusement park roller coaster ride.
In general - having the same train pass through the same scene many times - weaving in and out of the scene, or passing through the same scene multiple times on alternate paths as part of the same run tends to detract from realism and create what is known as "insincere scenes".
Some visual illustrations of these concepts:
Classic 5x9 foot table with visual dividers and walk around aisles in 9 x 11 foot room:
Hollow 5x9 foot table with central operator pit and low viewblock walls around edges (so people watching can stand and look into the layout over the edges, while the person inside can sit on wheeled chair and operate the layout from the pit):
An around the walls layout in a 9 x 11 foot room, pushed all the way out to the walls, with a removable section in front of the door into the room - allows the maximum coexistence of the layout with other uses of the room - with other things using the space below or above the layout on the walls and the center of the room being open):
There are many variants on these footprints, and one can mix and match narrower shelf style "look into" parts of the layout with wider "walk around" tables to fit a layout into a specific room, with specific location of doors, windows, fireplaces, cupboards etc.
3) I think a model railroad tend to look more interesting when it seems like there is some
purpose for the trains to run.
I.e. when it is not like "the train starts from here, do 15 laps around the layout, and then go back to park in exactly the same place it came from initially. Repeat".
That is a model that works well if what you are modeling is the Indy 500 or some other racing car event - where the whole purpose is to go around and around the loops fast.
If you want to model a railroad, think like this: "A train will shortly arrive (or have just arrived) at this place. What is it carrying? What will it do while being here? What will it do when it is done here - where will it go to next? Will it have to interact with other trains - e.g. wait in a siding for another train to pass through?".
4) The choice of modeling scale greatly affects hos much you can fit into a given space. The smaller scale, the smaller radius turn back curves, and the more run length (relative to the length of the trains) in a given space.
Many people automatically assume that H0 scale is the default choice. Considering N scale may give them a lot more layout in the same amount of space.
Two different uses of the same space from a different thread:
H0 scale duck-in layout
N scale walk-in layout in the same spot:
5) But in the end, it still is
your layout. Doesn't matter one bit what I or anyone else thinks would look best or be most interesting.
Hope I gave you some possible ideas without stomping too badly on your toes or discouraging you too much by making things too complicated.
If what
you want is to take a standard track plan and create an amusement park ride with multiple paths through the layout, where the train will duck in and out of tunnels and weave back and forth through the landscape while you sit on a chair and watch it weave around, rather than modeling a train doing something, then that is what you want and that is what you should do.
There will almost always be enough time to try other approaches later - hardly anyone who is young or middle aged and gets bitten by the bug will stop at just doing one layout in their lifetime
Smile,
Stein
