Move in there and rent out the house for some supplemental retirement income.
My brother wants me to make it an Airbnb. No running water and there is no way in hell Iām emptying a portable toilet for anyone but family! So no to that idea.
It is a boat load more comfortable than the drafty house in winter. I toyed with the idea of moving our bedroom out here, but sleeping isnāt a problem. Itās sitting at the table or on the couch watching TV. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
so, when the shed is finished, youāll start to rebuild the house?
I think rebuild is too strong a word. Iād love to if I had the budget. But there are many fixes I can do once it is warm enough to work outside of heated space.
But yes - there is a long list of projects there too.
Iāve been working on the design for my first railroad bench. I want it to support up to 4 tracks front to back. Length is determined by available space on the east wall between the tool/hardware box and the paneled āofficeā area. One or two tracks will continue around the office corner on a narrower bench or bridge - TBD.
Here is the bench plan that incorporates all the storage bins and totes currently stacked against a wallā¦
I landed on a 42" bench height and a 30" depth. I should be able to easily reach the back and itās high enough to enjoy standing or seated.
Before I commence bench building, I installed a little more trim on the ceiling.
I was unhappy with the panel end joints, mostly because they were so uneven. The long side joints donāt bother me as most are tight and land on a joist. The short ends have no framing behind them between the joists.
While I was at Home Depot returning the casing I over bought, I looked at some cheap pvc lattice and brought home 6 lengths. I used half to cover the end seams and the other half just to make the panels look symmetrical. OCDā¦
30" is going to be tight for 4 tracks but workable.
My staging yard is 2ā wide and I have 4 tracks spaced on 6" centers. It definitely close but able to switch cars around at least in 1/29.
Mine is 16ā long with both #6 and #4 turnouts.
I still donāt have my shop computer running. It has all the designs for the CT railroad on it. It was 4 tracks deep, but they were tight. Iām thinking 7" centers minimum. I think CT was about 24" deep.
I could go deeper but I want to stay around 42" high and be able to reach the back without a stool.
Jon, what about a hay trolley?
Could be quite handy, for your new attic.
We put one in our loft.
Well, I do have the track and wheels from the overhead door looking for an idea! A long way down the road.
I said I would leave the windows in primer. Then I realized that reaching the east side one would be difficult once the bench was built. So just that one window got color.
The closest lumber is now 84 in Huntingdon. We ran there this morning. After lunch I painted then started on the bench. I got three sides up before quitting timeā¦

I increased the bench height around an inch so the top will fall just under the window trim. I have this fantasy of a picture of a model locomotive in the foreground and EBT 16 out the window!
Today I spent most of the day creating sawdust. What was left of the wood when I was done molesting it became 3/4 of a sliding bin storage system. The two horizontal pieces at the wall and the front are assembly jigs and go away.
I had no idea what the future room layout would be when I did the wiring, so this bench is hiding a few plugs tooā¦
Good progress on the bench today despite a few errors. The space between legs does not work out the way it was drawn because of how I did the bin rails. One more leg to install then the top. Before installing the leg I need to do some real world size testing with the totes. Of course they are all full and some quite heavy.
As of the dinner bell tonightā¦
Spacing ended up working fine. Complete for now. Iām considering adding some drawers. Built entirely of left overs except the 2x4sā¦
Itās all perfectly square and level now but Rooster reminded me that itās a shed and will probably shift around. Weāll see

I think Iām setting up the office area and my big stereo next.
After he leaves his mark or before? 
Fudds second law of opposition: If you empty a space, stuff will migrate there until itās full.
Well, Fudd is alive and well in the C.V.S.Ry Rockhill Shopā¦
All that and more came from this area. I wonder what Fuddās plan is for this empty spaceā¦
I need to replace that corner ātrimā Iām trying to decide on the gray barnwood or natural pine.
I like that wood wall⦠Is it safe to assume, the trains go there?
Looks great, Jon! Iām sure youāll gradually tweak things to get some track space back. Gotta get the macro org squared away first, as youāve done, then comes the micro org! Shelves, pegboard, cabinets, bins⦠Fun stuff!
Iāll quote myself from last Decemberā¦
Design advice summary: swag, sprawl & shag! 
You guys are both too old to be shagging anything!









