I remember long hours, as a young modeler, perusing Westcott's 101 layouts and dreaming of building a magnificent layout. Those were the days (though I was in HO those years). The HO layout that I settle for was a "progressive stage built" 4'x8' layout that I found. I don't know the "book" though.
In early '80's I actually built #15 in N gauge for a small Christmas tree.