O Gauge Track Planning

TRACK OVERVIEW
If you are new to model railroading you will need a good track plan. With O Gauge Lionel offfers FasTrack which has ties and ballast built in and is easy to wire.  There is also O-27 track that is offered by Lionel, it is older and you must buy ballast and make your own ties.  I perfer Lionels FasTrack because I it has many diffrent track sizes and shapes which makes it easy to make almost any kind of loop.  FasTrack also makes insulated track to which saves you time from having to make 0-27 insulated track peices yourself, they also offer automaitc swiches.
              When Making your track plan there are many ways to start. One Way is to freeform with your track until you find somthing that you like. The Second way is to use Track Planning books or find track plans in The Model Railroader Magizine. A Third way is to use a computer program to make a track plan.  I perfer the first methood because using books usially requires lots of switches which I do not have and a track planing software is you paying to freeform on your computer, and when you freeform you can always change the way your layout looks. 
             When making your track plan ypu must think about many things befor you start.  For example how much track do I have? or How much space do I have? Will there be a tunnel here Will my layout be on the floor or on a table (I  Perfer Table) etc.  My sugestion to awnser some of these questions is to  get a Rough idea of where the moutians, trees, forests, streets, neiborhoods, buisneses, and rivers will be before you lay out the track. 
           When you start laying out your track make sure you have it layed out so if you want to use operating accessories you can and so you have enough wire to reach the control pannel.