So, I have a train layout at my family's lake house out in White Lake Township, Michigan, and I would love to build one myself. I have my current layout set up on a plastic down in the basement. 
What I love about this layout of mine is that the tinplate track is able to connect with the accessories, since my other two layouts use Fastrack (except for my trolley line on tinplate track) at both my divorced parents' houses. It also works way better as a test track for my older engines that I bought online and at train shows, for Christmas, and as hand-me-downs from our next-door neighbor, since these engines don't work well on Fastrack like I thought. I don't have any experience in building a layout at all, but with some help from my dad (plus TM Books and Video's O Gauge Layout Instruction video), and I can pull it off just fine.
This is a shot of three train layouts (one HO gauge and two O Gauge) that I took at their train store at the Dixieland Flea Market in Waterford, MI. With this picture for reference, this will be a good start in my opinion.
