Hi Eric,
Glad to have you on the forum, you'll find lots of friendly guys & gals here more than willing to help out however we can.
I've been in HO gauge for the past 58 years I guess it is and have seen a lot of changes
in the hobby and many advancements. I'm not sure just what your thinking is but with all the new stuff available you have some choices to make.
Also there is a lot of help available as far as helping you decide on a track plan along with computer programs that you can use to design and redesign a layout till your happy with it.
By all means let us know what you have in mind as we can offer some very helpful tips about doing a variety of things.
I have pictures posted of how I constructed my table work as does Rex {Rail Bender], we both use the L girder or a modified form of it, and there are other ways to construct a layout as well.
Don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have.
Talk with again,
David