I'm jumping ahead slightly here in the decision making process but I wanted to cover what has already happened sooner rather than later.  Which is to say the track plan was developed over a week in early January, a welcome distraction from post christmas lethargy.  The first plan was mark 1.  The idea was to have a distinct pasenger operation mixed and matched with a freight operation. 

The knowledge I brought to this was, run around loops are needed for loco operations, trains don't like reverse curves, steep gradients, avoid fouling points, the rudiments of the block sinalling system, and ... not much else.

Now given the point of this blog is to provide insights to the mind of the novice here are some "justifications" for the track plan for mark 1.  Firstly, the design is very square on, it just makes sense to run the straight track along the length of the available space.  Secondly, there is not much actual track laid down, it's very difficult to correctly imagine the amount track that is "typical",  the size of the operation in a given space is not an easy thing to put down on paper.  Thirdly there is a mismatch in track types that might cause someone to order the wrong pieces.  Fourthly, it is "atypical" or "non prototypical", which are technical phrases for "a bit rubbish".  Now whether that matters to you is opinion, but assuming the aim is to have fun, less rubbish layouts are probably better.  They are going to be more complex and involved and there will be less bodgy jumps that break the illusion.  Novelty setups exist, shelfs, suitcases etc, but I think they are for those who have had enough fun with a "proper" layout first.

The simple solution to most of the above is to refer to an expert, rmweb as it where, mark 4 is dramtically different from the above, and I owe thanks to @Schoonerand @The Johnster primarily for their input.  I feel a small amount of embarassment for mostly copying other ideas but really as a beginner it only helps to engage the knowledge and expertise of those willing to advise.

Schooner researched some real life track plans from the actual place of Newhaven, a port on the South coast of England and put me onto the National Library of Scotland maps that have a selection of historical detailed maps to see what actually happened.  The Johnster put forward the notions of real railway operations in the UK.  And from their suggestions mark 2 was developed...