Thank you for suggestions! I have considered the 4x5 and 5x7, but the need for the enlarger puts me off a bit. I could of course get a half decent scanner. On the other hand whole plate and 8x10 would be big enough contact-printed. I think I will try paper instead of film till I learn. I will check the availability of whole plate film - it would be interesting to use the old cameras. The only drawback - I will not be able to travel far from the car (need to buy one as well - maybe a classic too! ).
Anyway, I plan to get a low cost 4x5 monorail one day, but that is not so urgent.