Anon offers a harsh truth

Just steal one. As long as you hide it well, they'll never catch you.

You cannot own love. You cannot own wonder. You cannot own joy. You cannot own the beauty of the universe.

Desire is suffering. Why would you want to own a train? To seek to prevent others from admiring it? Nay, I posture, better let them run wild, for all to enjoy. To live free and reproduce in their natural habitats. To live along side is, not contained within a tiny rail network in your backyard or basement.

OP has no ambition, you can buy rolling stock for scrap value quite easily. If you have an insane amount of labour at your disposal you can do most things for a small heritage railroad by hand. The know-how is not secret arcane knowledge. The main issue is that most countries don't have that many enthusiasts willing to fund those projects. Road subsidies are insanely high but hurr-durr trains are expensive.

Anon needs to join a rail club or work for a rail museum. They're always looking for new people and they have big trains.

Define real

There are few people who bought old trams and cars. Some made pubs from them, guest rooms...

Pete Waterman (the 80s pop producer behind Rick Astley) owns a small steam railway on his own land.

Be the train you want to see in the world!

Can always get a train run on you though.

Good, I don't want to have to get insurance for it.