Thanks to great efforts from the rest of the family, and our neighbours Helen & Wolfgang, the garden has been transformed:

I have also managed to empty most of the contents of the undergarage:

All that is left in this picture are some old cupboards destined for the tip, and wooden shelves with which I hope to build some storage space under the baseboard.

Where did I put everything else? In a tent in the garden (Lesley’s brilliant idea!)

Then it was time to start insulating and cladding the undergarage, so give me a warmer environment more suitable for building baseboards.

First I painted the walls with a water proof coating, to prevent damp getting in from outside (the room is partially buried).

Then I screwed a wooden framework to the walls, inserted insulation, and covered it with 18mm OSB panels.

Here you can see the window, neatly boxed in, with the sliding panel to the left which will allow the trains to exit to the garden.