Transportation

The biggest downside of having such a large layout is having sufficient means of transportation.

For the last year or so, the layout has been carried around in a Citroen Berlingo Multispace, which has worked reasonably well but it means that the boards have to be stacked on top of each other, which doesn't do them much good and it's also resulted in some damage to the interior of the car.

Increasingly the Berlingo was only being used as a layout transporter and this makes it a rather expensive method. Plus we're restricted on the amount of stock we can carry and there would be no chance of any future expansion - even changing the rear of the top loop recently presented a greater challenge of trying to fit it all in the car!

A cheaper, more efficient solution was required. A van would be cheaper to buy and less prone to damage but in reality would only get used around twelve times a year. 

So a much cheaper solution was needed...

It won't need to be taxed or insured and will require very little maintenance. It just about fits in the garage and has plenty of room. Plus it shouldn't depreciate anywhere near as much as a car or van.

Next job is to rack it properly so that each board can be stored on its own shelf. This means lots of cutting of dexion (thankfully we acquired some recently) to make a rack capable of safely transporting my layout.

More Dexion required to finish the project, then some boards for the shelves.

I wonder if we have room for an extension...