Chevron,
Welcome aboard and thanks for the kind words re the tips & tricks post. It needs updating, it's a while since I added anything like "Make and Do with a BIC biro ink column"*
The first thing I'd say about this is print out what the lads have said above, handy to read should inspiration flag a bit! Second is not to worry about stock, buildings and the landscaping stuff yet. The layout itself is the important bit. Get your boards made up, and get the plan you like printed off at full scale and lay it out on the board. Then you'll see the operational possibilities and restrictions of it. Once you're happy then you can think about getting track sorted. You'll have that part of the layout the longest, so it's key to get that right. To butcher a well known phrase, "Lay track in haste, repent at leisure". While you're laying track, wiring and ballasting, you can be thinking of where to go next, just keep us posted
*CIE semaphore signal columns, modern buffer shafts, building chimney pots etc....
Richie