Does anyone have any ideas on how to organize your layout room,and desk? Pictures would be helpful. Pctures are worth a thousand words.
Thanks,
Chris Oestreich
One thing I did recently was to upgrade my toolbox, from a single-compartment red unit to an eight-drawer steel box with aluminium trays. Each tray is labelled with the type of tools that are in it - ‘gripping tools’, ‘screwdrivers’, ‘cutting tools’, etc. I’ve found this has helped me considerably. I can find the tool I need in a matter of seconds, rather than having to rummage through a jumble of hardware.
Welcome to the forums [#welcome]
If you have a home depot store or similar, go to the storage isle. You will find various sized containers that look like tupperware but cost a few bucks each. Buy a bunch and store your stuff in those. I use one for soldering equipment, one for glues etc etc. I even store my loco’s and rolling stock that isn’t being used in them.
Here’s a pic of a few of my containers.
Is this a trick question? What do you mean “organized”? [:D]
Seriously, the little Sterilite or Tupperware bins are a great help.
I also made myself a little open cabinet with small cubbies made out of hardboard to hold things like strip styrene, basswood, landscaping materials, etc.
If you’re into something a little more stylish, try a so-called Apothecary Chest (or cabinet). They look like this:
A word of warning, though: nice ones AIN’T cheap.
I have 3 work bench/areas and two storage areas. the storage areas are neat and organized as you can see in the photo. the work bench/areas are not organized as you can see in the other photo. I planned to build a really organized workbench but just kept expanding my clutter to other areas; thus 3 work areas.
-Bob
A fishing tackle box can hold small tools, glues, etc. A roll top desk works well. Lots of shelves help.
Enjoy
Paul
No ideas from me,
but when you find out maybe I can get this fixed.
and this
or perhaps I just have too much stuff!
Alan, you can send me all of your trains. THAT should alleviate some of that clutter. [swg]
I have found that any horizontal surface quickly becomes a workbench/storage area(mess). Fewer horizontal planes would help. Cabinets are great for hiding micro messes. When the kids finally move all their stuff out they left behind I will have another room. This new room will be my workbench room.
Organized people are just too lazy to look for things. [;)]
Pete
My work area of the trainroom …
Pay attention to the appearance of your benchwork. Instead of just putting up bare wood, stain and polyurethane it out in the garage or whatever, before you start putting down subroadbed or wiring. Think about your fascia early on. Make your control panels presentable.
These by themselves won’t control clutter, but they will make the room much more presentable when it’s neat. There’s some incentive there.
When we have friends over for dinner, I try to do a quick straightening-up of the whole room. I like to make the whole layout look presentable. This helps me keep the bottles of ground foam and ballast put away, instead of leaving them on the pink foam while I do wiring or whatever on the other side of the layout.
First, I’d have to FIND the room the trains are in. It is affectionately called the “junk room” and is a dumping ground for everything else we don’t know what to do with as we live in a trailer. Looks very much like ‘Alantrains’ pics above.
The computer room/guest bedroom is quickly becoming the same.
I have stuff in tool boxes {paints, figures, scraps, tools, parts} and I have trains in plastic shoe boxes as well as original boxes. I have boxes of boxes of “daily use” or “at hand” locos and Rr cars that are on teh enclosed front porch.
I have stuff in two dressers in the train room that I intend to clean out so I can put more trains stuff neatly in them.
When I get around to it. LOL
I have been meaning to have a giant yard sale selling off unwanted stuff CHEAPLY to someone who can use it better than I to clear out “shtuff”, but a bad back and having 2 benign tumors removed from my spine recently has prevented me from doing such a thing.
Now this is what I need in my work room. I love it. I hate clutter. And right now I am pretty good but my use of space is not nearly as efficient as this. I need to rethink my area a bit more.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Mike
Perhaps not Marlon,
I don’t have enough trains (can you ever have too many). It’s all the other stuff, but I need that too.
cheers
When my train room was cluttered, my patience and blood pressure were often agitated when I worked on minor projects. I had rail car and locomotive, parts, paint items, airbrushes, etc scattered here and there. When visitors came over, I often shut the door so they wouldn’t see the clutter. One day I finally said “enough!”; and decided to clean up my room.
Former forum member, Driline, had posted a photo of his layout. The bulb lit up in my head to use his example. He built a shelf-type layout that was just above his workdesk, computer, etc. Kept the room clean. (I downloaded his photo but I don’t want to post it without his permission).
I took a trip to Walmart and the Dollar store and purchased plastic storage bins. They’re not expensive and well worth the money. After labeling each drawer/bin with making tape the hobby became fun again. I posted these photos before. I hope they’re helpful. I’ll be purchasing some more soon. Bins include drawers for couplers, wheels sets, decals, loco detail parts, rolling stock detail parts, mechanical parts, small tools (tweezers, clamps), styrene scrap, etc, scenery figures, electrical items, etc. Stuff that I knew I would likely not use was given away or went into the trash can.
Locomotive and rolling stock diagrams. At times when I wanted to perform a repair or order parts for cars/locomotives I had to waste time “hunting” for diagrams. Just put them all int
Messy or neat, I think the most important thing is that your work area or work shop is set up in such a way that you feel inspired to make magic happen every time you sit down. At least that is what is important to me. Shop pics below…
This is just not fair. If my wife ever see’s this I’m DOOMED!
Thats discusting Garry, this is what a work bench should look like!!! 
Truck.
You know what happens when you put all that stuff away? YOU CANT FIND IT, at least you know were it’s at if you see it all the time.
Truck.