[#welcome]
I also started in my youth. My mother still has my letter to Santa asking for an “olektrik trane”.
All my friends had Lionel O gage but, always one to follow my own path, I had an American Flyer S gage because it had two rails like a real railroad.
In my very early teens, I changed to HO with money I earned delivering newspapers. Again, it was motivated by a search for realism. Everyone I knew who had a train, had O that they assembled on the floor when they wanted to play. One friend had his set up semi permanently on a ping pong table. I had no source of knowledge or advise. I did the best I could, using wire screen and paper Mache. In hindsight, it wasn’t very good, but it was fun.
When I went into the Navy in 1966 the hobby and I parted ways and it was just a childhood memory until I bought my grandchildren an HO Thomas the Tank Engine set several years ago. It went over much bigger than anticipated, and “we” decided to make something bigger for Thomas to run on. We built a 4x8 three times around layout. During the construction, I remembered how much fun it had been in my youth, and now the layout fills a two car garage.
The 5 year old still prefers Thomas, and Hogwarts Express, but the now 9 year old prefers the “real” trains. Her favorite is the PRR 4-6-2 K-4 Pacific pulling a passenger train.
You have an advantage that the seniors in here did not. This forum. If you pay attention, there is an infinite supply of knowledge and collective experience here, ready to be shared with anyone who wishes to learn.
Do not get discouraged if your early efforts look primitive compared to people in here who have been working on their miniature world for 40-70 years. Just try to make each individual project bette