I built this from a book back in high school - that was the mid 70's, which dates me pretty well. I found it to be an enjoyable pike to build and operate as a beginner.
If you have the book that details the construction and are not in too big a hurry to get trains running, I might be a good first layout choice. why?:
1) the book details every aspect of the cookie cutter construction. Every riser is detailed out, and the plywood sheets have templates, showing where to make the cuts. So this is a great way to get the feel for constructing bench work more complicated that a flat plywood table.
2) The electrical work is also detailed very well. It uses the atlas controls (since it was an Atlas book), which are far from the best, but they work, and in using them you gain knowledge of how DC cab control worked, and a little bit of DC electrical knowledge. Of course today you could use a DCC booster and one or two auto-reversers and simplify the operation. But as a High Schooler, I enjoyed flipping all those switches with my buddy, as we tried to run 2 trains around independantly.
3) it is small enough to scenic without taking forever - again, as a _first_ layout, or a second layout if your first was a loop on a plywood sheet, it lets you learn and practice a lot of important modeling skills. I still use all the skills I gained, even though the layout is long gone. And if you want a small pike with grades and don't mind the spaghetti, it has 3 levels and good visual interest.
It is true it flies totally in the face of todays Koester-ized "between the fences" layout philosophy. And really you should stick with small engines and cars on those 18" curves. But for HO, in an 8x12 space, it is a LOT of railroad. If I were building it again today, I might do a few things differently:
a) use flex for most of the track, particularly for where the plan mixes 2 different radius curves to get parallel curve in between the available commercial curve sizes.
b) skip the turntable, which burns a lot of space, and put some additional industry in there.
c) skip the hump yard, just put in flat switching
d) build the legs long, so the layout starts at least 40", or even 46" off the ground. That would make getting into the access hatch much easier.
e) go DCC, and wire it appropriately for DCC, rather than the 2 cab control
In summary, it really is not a bad pike for a beginner, if you have reasonable skill with a saw and hammer, and are actually looking for the "lots of tracks = lots of action" traditional style of layout. The fact it has 3 levels makes it not quite as crowded as the flat plan looks. IF you want the construction experience, and mostly want a space to run your trains around (and around and around) while you work on the scenery, with a little bit of switching thrown in, then consider it.