Hi all: first post here, so I'll give a bit of background first. I'm 25, a graduate student in college currently, and have rekindled a love of model railroading recently that had been dead since my early teens. My family had a bunch of postwar Lionel when I was younger that I recently dug out from the attic while on break, and I have been adding to the collection slowly with what little savings I can toss at cars and accessories.
My semester break is in a couple weeks, and my father and I usually find some sort of project on which to work while I'm home- in the past usually car-related. I know a dealer layout may be a bit much to scratch build in ten days, but we've decided we can start the project and continue it during summer. Having watched videos and looked at photos, I've settled on a D-148 for the layout, but cannot find any track plans online, and also cannot afford Roger Carp's book (costs more used than any texts I'm using in school). The idea is to use the 148 as a base, but stretch it around a foot in each direction to provide a bit more footprint on which to add accessories, and perhaps an additional outer loop (I have four postwar engines now-two diesel switchers and two steam locomotives- and wouldn't mind running all on one display).
I've looked at this thread for inspiration, but, again, would like a bit more guidance in terms of layout design before going all-in on building this:https://ogrforum.com/topic/lionel-dealer-display-layouts-factory-layouts-and-postwar-layouts?page=3
Finally, I understand a bit how the finish on these was done (paint+the dyed sawdust), but if anyone had any further tips on getting right the look to match Lionel's work it would be appreciated (the mountain, in particular).
Thanks for any help you all can provide.
