There is always room for a small layout (or two!)
I squeezed two layouts in to a small 2 x 12 foot closet. I call this area "The Alcove"
The first of these two layouts is O27 Lionel on the lower level. A simple loop, sort of a half dog bone that goes from 22 inches wide to 27 inches. How did I fit 27 inch curves in a 24 inch deep space? The two ends curve between the wall studs on each end to the outer wall.
Action here is enhanced by a train of bobbing giraffe, elephant and horse cars, as well as a cop and hobo car. Scenery consists of a city street of Plasticville buildings, the Warrenville Zoo and a Presidential car show/rally. As is the main Warrenville RR layout, track is enhanced with balsawood track ties and kitty litter ballast.
The second of the two layouts is above the first. It is a PostWar American flyer "S" gauge 38 x 60 inch loop that appears as a single 12 foot straight siding from the front. The trick here is that the loop leaves the Alcove via a tunnel into my workshop on the other side. There it circles paint cans on a storage shelf and returns through another tunnel.
The scenery here is another city street with Plasticville building fronts. The American Flyer track is enhanced with their black rubber roadbed. I made the tunnel portals out of scrap Styrofoam.
Above the American Flyer layout trains are stored on PostWar style displays that I made
