One thing my parents thought of was how am I going to get to the back of my display table to set things up 8 ft is a long way to reach
Damo - You have wise and thoughtful parents able to ask awkward questions! I had given this some consideration and I was thinking of suspending you from the ceiling in a harness - like Tom Cruise in "Mission Impossible".
Seriously though, there are a couple of options. One is that we set the display up by around 18 inches out from the wall. The other is to accept that the middle of the back (around 4ft x4ft) will not be the main area of focus and will have fewer klickies back there. I think it might be possible to do a mix whereby we set up all the "robust" items - train track, buildings etc with the set brought out. We then push it back against the wall and populate it with klickies. I would like it back against the wall as I wanted "backcloths" for displays. This is a grand way of describing lengths of lining paper painted in sky blue or whatever is appropriate.
I plan to have all of the bases laid out (painted and "dressed") ready for everyone's arrival.
You mentioned racing. Racing (I have 5 F1 style cars, a service van, a 4x4 pickup and trailer), Underwater (three submarines), Space and Garry's possible Romans are all struggling for space. I had to move them from plans for now. I have considered some shelves for simple display or using a separate smaller room. Garry and I talked about a smaller table for a modest Romans display. This is still possible. I am reluctant to leave things out.
Playmofirth