So st the end of the day, I decided to take someone's advice early in this thread and go simple to start. Lionel Fastrak oval, to run the fantastic Lionel Mikado in Southern Pacific livery that I couldn't stop myself from buying. I also bought a Legacy control and some very nice rolling stock on EBay. Eventually I'll do a proper layout, probably when the new Fox Valley track becomes available.
Thanks for everybody's input. It was most appreciated and very valuable.
David