Storing Train Collection - Is acid free tissue paper necessary?

[cwburfle]

Here is another sad case: The last private party purchase I made was from a fellow who was selling his father's childhood trains. It was  large set, with a 2023 Alco set, a whole bunch of add-on cars, a fair number of accessories, and a ZW transformer. Everything was in the original boxes, lacking only the set box. It was obvious that the trains were lovingly cared for. But unfortunately, somewhere along the way, the trains were poorly stored. Every box was water stained. Every item had some sort of water damage, things like rusty door guides and corroded trucks. I think I ended up replacing the trucks on almost every car. 

So, how and where you store your trains is important to preserving them.

By the way, even when I have the original box for an item, I like to use plastic bags. The bags prevent box rubs, the marks that are created as the item is slid in and out of it's cardboard box.
And if you have modern era stuff packed in styrofoam, it prevents the styrofoam from leaving marks in the finish.

[cwburfle]

Then there were the standard gauge pieces I saw where the newspaper welded itself to the door guides of the car, and could not be removed.

One more thought: whatever you do, don't store your trains in contact with bubble wrap. Bubble wrap is known to leave patterns of bubbles in the finish of toy trains that are in contact with it. The patterns generally do not come out.

[RedfireS197]

AF53

I hear you that you want to protect your trains as much as possible, so do I. A few years back I took some rains out of storage. They were 1953 passenger cars and were stored in an unheated attic for a couple of decades that was subject to all ranges of humidity. In the summer here in Jersey it gets very sticky. I  was ready for the worst. As I grabbed the box they were stored in (a standard brown box) and opened it, I saw the original American Flyer boxes that was made for them, I opened it and was glad that they looked as good as they were the day they were made.

Don't get me wrong, I would never put them away like that again, but I probably could.

Point is, you might be overdoing it a bit. Good luck.

 

 

I'm with Ray.  Yesterday I bought an American Flyer 290 steamer that was wrapped in newspaper from December 26, 1960.  It's fine.

 

Really, I think the climate that the item is stored in is more important than what it's wrapped in during storage.

[AF53]

I hear you that you want to protect your trains as much as possible, so do I. A few years back I took some rains out of storage. They were 1953 passenger cars and were stored in an unheated attic for a couple of decades that was subject to all ranges of humidity. In the summer here in Jersey it gets very sticky. I  was ready for the worst. As I grabbed the box they were stored in (a standard brown box) and opened it, I saw the original American Flyer boxes that was made for them, I opened it and was glad that they looked as good as they were the day they were made.

Don't get me wrong, I would never put them away like that again, but I probably could.

Point is, you might be overdoing it a bit. Good luck.

 

[cwburfle]

I would not store trains in any sort of paper. Doesn't paper attract and hold moisture?
I have had some of my trains in storage for a long time, much of it for decades. My trains are first placed in food grade plastic bags, with the end left open, and holes punched for ventilation, and then in generic cardboard boxes. None of the trains has suffered any degradation.

To the best of my knowledge, food grade plastic bags are made of the same material as "archival" grade bags. If there is a difference, I wish someone would explain it.

[temp0101]

I plan on wrapping each piece of my collection in tissue paper then wrapping it in bubble wrap. The tissue paper I got is 20" by 30" white tissue paper, it is smooth on one side (likely treated with wax) and the other side is not treated. I plan on placing the train on the non-treated side.

I plan to place each piece in heavy duty cardboard boxes and store in a basement with dehumidifier that stays a constant 75 degrees and 35% humidity year round.

Should I be concerned that the tissue paper contains acid (it is not the more expensive acid free archival tissue paper)? Will the tissue paper react with plastic or metal? I've read that acid free tissue paper is best but doubt that most people pay the extra premium?