Reddit reviews Track Planning for Realistic Operation: Prototype Railroad Concepts for Your Model Railroad (Model Railroader)(3rd Edition)

John Armstrong's Track Planning for Realistic Operation is a great book:
https://www.amazon.com/Track-Planning-Realistic-Operation-Railroader/dp/0890242275

I like Lance Mindheim's books for modern operations on smaller layouts too:
http://lancemindheim.com/book-store/

I believe this is pretty much required reading around these parts. If nothing else it'll give you some good ideas to build upon.

Model railroading is such a broad topic that has so many facets to it that you can get advice on. Even within scenery and laying track there is so much to discuss that it is dificult to give general advice. Here goes:

• Plan ahead. You will have a lot more fun running trains if you have a well designed track plan. If you plan even just a few well placed sidings you will have fun rearanging cars. You can get advice here if you draw up some track plans.
  
  
• Lay track well. Nothing will ruin the fun of running trains faster than poorly laid track. Kinks, s-curves and tight radius turns will lead to frequent derailments.
  
  
• Minimums. For HO scale a 4' x 8' layout is a tight minum. With modern equipment it will look unrelistic on tight radius curves and your trains could derail.
  
  
• Train shows and train clubs. Look for some in your area. A great way to meet people and have them give you hands on model train advice.
  
  
• Books. There are lots of great books out there on helping you build your first layout. These books I have and like: The scenery manual. Bench work. Track Planning.
  These books look interesting for a beginer: scenery. Step by step. If the books are out of print then search Amazon for a used copy or find them at a train show.
  
  Tell us about what your plans are. How much space do you have? Do you have track yet? What kind of track? Are you going to model a specific area or road? Do you have a DCC system? If you give us some specifics we can give you better advice on what you will be building.

I strongly recommend starting with a simple operations plan that covers what trains will do on your layout. You don't need to use prototype rules but if your trains have nothing to do besides go round and round for no reason, you will get bored after a couple weeks. Knowing why your railroad exists will inform your track plan much better than what will fit in your space.

For example, I'm building a railroad which carries supplies to a dam construction site.

Track Planning for Realistic Operation by John Armstrong is the bible for model railroad track planning.

I also like Byron Henderson's website for learning basics while waiting for the book to arrive from Amazon, and for tips and tricks which the book doesn't cover.

I totally agree with what CiderDrinker said. I started out on a 4x6 and got a feel for what I liked, built some models, and really affirmed that I wanted to keep going with the hobby. I started out with Bachmann EZ track and I suggest you do the same. Actually I would recommend using Kato's version of EZ track, called Unitrack. I hear better things about the quality, etc... But the "plug and play" aspect will let you focus on the basics of setting up a layout without getting bogged down in things like electrics, feeder wires, etc.

My advice to you... Plan plan PLAN! Download one of the track planning softwares on the sidebar. I have the free version of AnyRail which is more than plenty. It has every track library possible including Kato and Bachmann. If you really want, get a basic layout going but don't lay down anything permanent. Then you can see things hooked up and working which is pretty satisfying. But in the meantime, plan out a more permanent layout with one of those track planners. I've made some mistakes in planning by just setting things up without really planning out how everything will work, and to be honest I'm kind of losing interest because I don't have a ton of things to "do" on my layout right now.

You'll hear this in any FB group or subreddit, so I'll just start the conversation. Buy a copy of Realistic Track Planning... I haven't read it yet but I have a copy and I need to get into it. Everyone tells me it's a great book to have around. Pick up a couple more of those books too. Maybe one on trackwork, one on realistic operation, one on scenery... whatever looks interesting to you :) . The moral of the story is, have patience and know that it might suck to wait so long but the end result will be far more fulfilling than just winging it and hoping it works out!

The best part about this hobby is all the learning and information. You will make mistakes and come across things you like and don't like, and can adapt from there