@New guy posted:Hi Manny,
Let me know the size and the parts. I was going to use https://www.scarm.info/ application.
Thank you,
Welcome New Guy:
Please don't become disheartened. These things can be ironed out, with either help from your seller and/or Lionel customer service. I have two things to note:
1) Lionel does offer Fasttrack curves in 031. If you want your layout to fit on a 4x8 table, you can special order them for use in place of the 036 curves provided with your Lionel set.
2) Regarding the Polar Express engineer: If the image you provided is the product photo from Lionel's catalog, which it seems to be, it looks as if you shouldn't have expected the engineer to have a beard since the one pictured does not.
Good luck and have fun in getting established. Don't give up the ship, or in this case, the train!