I am doing a 12-8 layout. My personal plan is to have an incline track going around the first half of the layout with Gordon and his coaches on it. I'm also putting an area for shunting and a lot of connected switch track going along one of the sides of the layout. If your looking for more scenic though I would say that mountains, water, and a background would be awesome. The different Thomas props like Timouth Sheds, Knatford station, and the lighthouse would look great on it.