With my main track in storage for the winter, I normally end up testing at the club track. I finally decided that I needed a track for winter as well.
My solution:
A free laminate countertop, roughly 30 in wide and 7 ft long. Cheap and easy routing, easy surface to clean. With the limited space, I wanted adjustable power.
Also cheap and easy, $5 worth of components from ebay. Haven't gotten directional switch yet, that's next. And I can move them to the big track, so I can have 3 independent lanes off my one budget power supply ($10 at a rummage sale for 15A supply).
So at least I can test my winter builds!