My workbenches are under the layout. Not ideal as far as dust and such, but its my only option. But, it does provide 35 linear feet of bench space, counting both sides.
The above pictures are the left side of the room. The test track is 8 feet long, and tucks under the outer edge of the overhead cabinets, and is usable there. I don’t have pix of the right side on my phone currently. Dan
Wife #2 was an architect. I built a ‘studio’ for her measuring about 14’ x 24’. Somehow it became a perfect spot for my model railroad workshop 
This is the computer desk with a 20 foot test track above (the green shelf):
Looking the other direction. The Passenger staging yard with test track above:
Test Lab-S by Edmund, on Flickr
Former drawing drawers I made as built-ins:
Drawers_aplenty by Edmund, on Flickr
She left her drawing table as a going-away present. Perfect for model building!
IMG_7287_fix by Edmund, on Flickr
Sometimes it actually gets cleaned off!
Bench Area Wide by Edmund, on Flickr
The paint booth is in an adjoining grotto:
I don’t have a spray booth per-se but the area has a large twin cage exhaust fan directly above, vented outside, that takes care of VOCs.
Cheers, Ed
You could make a work surface from plywood, with felt feet. Place it on the kitchen table for hobby work, then easily lift it off when done. Maybe put a tool holder on it.
Hi LouN
Welcome and that looks like a great place for a Layout and Workbench, with the luxury of a Sink, as well.
Paul.
welcome LouN
Chuck
Ed that’s an amazing work room love it.
Chuck
Thanks, Chuck! My ‘original’ man cave. I’ve spent hours in there over the years. I’m sure at least an average of three or more hours a night, over 1000 per year.
It has all been fun and rewarding!
Cheers, Ed
Here’s my glorious mess! I can never keep mine clean; I somehow just wind up dumping stuff there and using an unfinished portion of the layout to work on locomotives and whatnot.
Here’s a better look at both sides. No, its not usually this clean! But it doesn’t take long to get it in shape.
Here’s looking from the other end of the room.
Dan
WOW Dan nice work shop it’s huge.
Chuck
Thanks, Chuck. Its not as long as the picture makes it look. The room is about 9×19 inside. I salvaged the room from being demolished, originally a substantially built 12x10 add on to a mobile home. It was open on the end attached to the moho… I added 8 feet to it’s length.Dan
Wow, seeing all these Workbench setups is as fascinating as seeing people’s Layouts.
Although I am fine with what I’ve got, my eyes have popped-out on stalks and I am green with envy, looking at these.
Please keep them coming, Paul.
Yep, a ton of great ideas on here…from full seperate rooms to compact, mobile benches. It is awesome to see everyone’s take on workspaces.
yes I agree with Paul and Casey ,keep them coming.
Chuck
I found the other pics I was going to post so here is more from me.
Desk rarely looks this clean though I always start a new project with a clean desk. I want to know where every tool is when I dive in.
Main desk
Desk for soldering and electronics. Soldering irons and clutter do not mix. My layout is through the door.
Bar and lazy boy is in the train room for a tired (me) crew.
Never know when you need a pour of good scotch while cutting all those little pieces late on a Saturday night.
Guitars are also by the bar, it’s what I do while waiting for the glue to dry.
Beautifully organized, @harfit249
Temporary setup in my kitchen while my garage was getting finished for the layout. With my unexpected move coming up, I’ll be getting a new and more permanent setup.
Kevin
Thank you for your kind comment.
I’m one of those people who believes there’s no substitute for holding an actual magazine while digesting it, and Model Railroader is one of few magazines I always read cover to cover. So for a couple decades I gave a lot of space to shelves for them. Then I lived long enough to survive more than one desktop PC and/or laptop beyond its capacity for upgrades. When I moved the most recent of them to the shop instead of junking it, things changed.
Using my Trains subscription, it took some time and effort but I eventually downloaded every back issue of Model Railroader and a few other titles as print-easy pdfs. It isn’t as much fun plopping in a chair to read one, but I no longer have to spend time over the printer-scanner to make my own copy of an article or image that I think I can or should use for my railroad. I just wish there was a real comprehensive index, the annual ones offered by Trains being close to useless.
For those who may doubt the value of having access to back issues here’s this: I assembled a fleet of six Mantua Pacifics, because the first one I obtained had strong sentimental value, and the others were dirt cheap and easy to obtain. All these years later, they remain a great foundation for all manner of overhaul and update. They all lay on the shelf for longer than I care to say, because the plans I had for updating them seemed so unlikely of bearing fruit. Just browsing through back MR issues in my digital collection, though, turned up more than a dozen pertinent and often detailed articles loaded with information sufficient to take them off the shelf and get started. I’m not done with overhauling, detailing and electronically updating them yet, because I handle them as a set, not one by one. But the end result, which is in sight now, will surpass my wildest dreams, and my railroad will have the fleet of versatile and excellent motive power I’ve always wanted at costs I can afford. Plus I really enjoy the work involved.
My workbench resides in an alcove between my layout room and my wood shop. The test/programming track on the workbench is connected through a hole-in-the-wall directly to the layout but can be isolated from the main when needed. My library is a lot more compact, although still pretty substantial because it mostly resides now on a freestanding hard drive. A great deal of the shelf space it used to live on is now a helix.
I still believe in print media, and the usual answer to how I use my spare time is still browsing old mags. But I have a lot more space now than I used to, and I like that too.
