ezdays said:
To start with, you don't have many options for shipping. There are weight and size restrictions so I think you can forget about the Post Office, FeEx and UPS. Talk to a freight company or even a national moving company. They will probably give you advice on how to pack it, or even do that job for you.
Yeah, what he said.
...How complete is it? Do you have a lot of plaster scenery, are you going to leave lots of fragile structures on it, how heavy is it right now? These are some of the things you need to ask yourself...
I've moved my 2 1/2' x 5' layout in two interstate moves now (although I have yet to check on it's condition after the most recent move a week ago). I built a crate for it (
http://home.att.net/~bluecreekrr/c9/bc-crate.html), and the movers loaded it along with the other furniture.
Regardless of assurances or how many fragile stickers you apply, the layout will be handled by the likes of forklifts and trucks bouncing over rough roads. If it's not packed well (IE, fragile buildings removed and packed separately), it will arrive a mess. As it is, some scenery will inevitably shake off.
For an Interstate move, this will cost a bit to ship it by itself. Either you will have to get lumber and build a crate for it (which takes money, space, tools, and time), or get them to build it (mo' money). The heavier it is, the more it will cost, and the stronger the crating has to be.
Depending on how far along you are with this layout, I would at least look at the possibility of salvaging what you can from the layout, packing it in normal boxes that can be shipped ala UPS, and starting over at your new destination. In my case, there were already movers moving things. But if it were a matter of only the layout moving, as far along as my layout is, I would consider salvaging items and doing it over again. The fact that there are some items I'd like to change and/or do over again makes it even more desirable to do that (most modelers have things like that about their layout that they wouldn't mind doing again). Anyway, that's just another way of looking at it.
---jps