Thank you all for your input and for the positives and negatives of such a project. The last time I got my hands on a model railway was probably 40 years ago with the usual 10yr old boys Christmas present of a Hornby set.
I've had a look at some of the layouts posted here and the standard is amazing,I never realised what could be achieved today. Clearly these are a labour of love spanning many years of commitment
To answer some of the questions you have posed
Unfortunately we don't have any plan of how the layout looked before,it was already dismantled and boxed up. The gauge is oo,most items being Hornby,Wrenn and Bachmann
40x9 is the size of the total garage area,obviously there needs to be easy access/egress so I cannot completely fill the room and the less flexible among us will not be wanting to limbo under tabletops. I am thinking a run along one wall or maybe an 'L' shape
My idea was to get some of the residents involved,the gentlemans two friends were already keen on the idea. However,the thought of letting septuagenarians loose with power tools does not fill me with excitement so I intend to build the framework/ boards myself to create the blank canvas if you like.
I'm not sure about people just turning up,there is a security issue there,but I like the idea of maybe one or two evenings a week to help the build along. I am going to check on modelling clubs in the area,we are on the south coast a few miles from Southampton
Thanks again for all the inputs