If you are new to this hobby, you will find yourself in a conundrum as to how to start railroad modeling, and if it should be freelance or prototype.
Prototype Modeling
Modeling the prototype is somewhat easier than freelance as the hard parts have mostly been done for you already by the railroad you are modeling. You can look up some useful track plans on the web, and if you would like to depict a certain area or town, you can always find photos of it on the net, though a better advice would be to make a tour to that place during a trip with your family or friends. Take your own snaps of the scenery, the buildings, roads, vehicles etc, and keep them as a reference when making your own railroad system.
An advantage of using a prototype track layout is that if it has worked well for the prototype company, it most certainly will for you too. However, there is no hard and fast rule for prototype modeling. You can design your track close to or very different from the actual; any way you like, since it is ‘your’ railroad and you are the in command.
Freelance Modeling
Sometimes you want to design a railroad entirely your own way, add your own towns, landscapes, scenes of interest etc, letting your imagination have its way. This sounds more creative than just replicating a prototype. Some of the best railroad layouts ever designed were freelanced. It also seems safer to freelance as in prototype modeling, you can never be sure of how a prototype model looked or worked when you never worked for that company, and might end up designing a track that is not even recognizable.
However, even if you are freelancing, it would be advisable to go through some prototype railroad maps, and add some elements of it to your layout with minor variations, in order to get a head-start.
Finally, you can always add beautiful, eye-catching scenery which your train will course through to reach its destination. That will make the hobby even more entertaining and addicting, and then it will become rather hard to give up.
