Originally Posted by Engineer-Joe:
about losing money, you loose money the minute you get into toy trains.
Yes, folks that worry about losing money in toy trains should probably look into getting a hobby.......like model RR'ing.
But in any case, for the OP there are a lot of real and useful options and there are folks here with real experience you can tap as resources. Joe @ Baldwin Machine is a superior source of knowledge, experience, and an all around good egg.
There are also a lot of opinions - go with the experience, and have fun pursuing your objectives.