New layout design help

Before you go any farther get those walls and floor sealed!  Moisture will ruin your track, engines, and scenery.  It will also cut down on the dust.

Can you use any part of the middle of the space?  Otherwise you are limited to a maximum of 3 to 3 1/2 feet of table width along the wall.  What diameter curves are you going to use?  The larger the better; you have the space to use them.

Many of the around-the-wall layouts have a center peninsular(s) that may contail yard, engine facility, and/or station.

Jan

This thread will inspire some ideas: New Layout Space  he went for a folded dog bone with a peninsula

I second the walls and backdrop first. Seal and paint. I found Sherwin-Williams Tibetan Sky (SW7034, extra-white, satin base on white primer) to be a pleasing low altitude sky color. Then lighting over the layout if necessary. Now, get the chopsaw out and have at it.

A good read too:

Biggest layout mistake(s) ?

I wouldn't go any farther on bench work until you have a layout planned.  You will find that you have to remove some of what you have done and build new stuff.

I notice you're using particle board in a room that appears to have a lot of moisture; the board will warp badly unless you add a dehumidifier to that area.

I built my benchwork and then designed a layout to go on it, but I wish I had a bigger room (famous last words, huh?).

When I built my first layout I made the mistake of building the benchwork first then trying to design a workable layout to fit the benchwork.  This created a lot of frustration later when laying track took place.  I would suggest before going any further to invest $40 on a software program like Railmodeller and begin designing your layout prior to going any further with benchwork - just my opinion.

Good luck -