"Are models today too detailed and fragile or A-Line Hobby Tote system not worth it???"
I think that today's models are too detailed for some and not detailed enough for others. Where each modeller fits within that range would seemingly answer the portion of your question concerning the Hobby Tote. (A product with which I'm not familiar.)After all, no matter what you use for transporting models, they and the container need to be handled appropriately. That means that the rolling stock should be packed so that each piece contacts nothing hard and so that it will not move within its allotted space - your rolling stock will dictate the packaging method.For the container, it should have a side which is consider to be "UP", as seen in notices of "THIS SIDE UP", and should be transported in that position - after all, you're not handing it off to some ham-fisted lout in a shipping department who's mad at the world and takes it out on your package.If the package is to be transported in your vehicle, ensure that it's constrained, either in the trunk, on the seat, or on the floor. I prefer the latter, as I tend to be an "enthusiastic" driver, and don't want that package sliding around during acceleration, braking, or cornering.For packaging, I use produce boxes - those for tomatoes or pears work best for my needs, but all have separate tops and cut-outs for carrying handles. I use cardboard from other boxes to make compartmented trays for each piece of rolling stock - the only cost is for gluesticks used to assemble the trays.
As you can see in the photo, packaging to prevent movement is minimal due to the care used when handling the container.I think that, in your case, the fault lies neither with the container nor the fragility of the rolling stock.
Wayne
I can understand both sides of the issue, but for me, the more detail the better!!! I handle my equipment like a newborn baby. I'm probably over cautious, but when you pay what we do for engines and rolling stock "handle with care"
Regg05 Umm sometimes I beg to differ, I don't really care if a engine has all of the brake hoses, dual fuel tanks, and every prototypical undercarriage part. When trains are run, mostly noone including me is looking to see if the engine has all its equipment, I care about running, pulling power, sound, and nice paint job. Thats about it because its the stuff that gets noticed. I'm 33 and realize that the Athearn BB models were the best thing since sliced bread as far as durability is concerned. I dropped several of those cars back in the day and got a few scuff marks, and the coupler fell out but no broken parts. These models today. A trip to the floor from said layout would all but dismantle and most likely destroy said model. Smh!
Umm sometimes I beg to differ, I don't really care if a engine has all of the brake hoses, dual fuel tanks, and every prototypical undercarriage part. When trains are run, mostly noone including me is looking to see if the engine has all its equipment, I care about running, pulling power, sound, and nice paint job. Thats about it because its the stuff that gets noticed. I'm 33 and realize that the Athearn BB models were the best thing since sliced bread as far as durability is concerned. I dropped several of those cars back in the day and got a few scuff marks, and the coupler fell out but no broken parts. These models today. A trip to the floor from said layout would all but dismantle and most likely destroy said model. Smh!
After the new modern fully detailed cars are dropped on the floor a couple of times, so many parts will be removed that you'll pretty much have your Blue Box cars, just as you want.
Kind of a silver lining, there.
Myself, I just don't drop things. I dunno, maybe it's a gift. Of course, I'm very careful, even sometimes putting my other hand under the model I'm holding "just in case". And looking where I'm stepping. Silly me, such a worry wort.
Ed
Lets face it, even in a op setting, most cars sit idel more than they move. Sure the details blur when moving but unless you just run in a loop, most of your rolling stock sits on sidings or yards. I have a medium sized layout and even if I had 6 people running it (the max do to confiquration, only 1/4 (if all stations were being operated) of rolling stock would be moving at any given time, that means 3 would be constantly switching cars and the other three were moving and not stopping for anything, not happening.
Regg05When trains are run, mostly noone including me is looking to see if the engine has all its equipment, I care about running, pulling power, sound, and nice paint job.
In my opinion what you see depends upon from what angle and distance you are looking. If you are tall, the layout low, and you are three feet away, I agree. However, if one has a high layout of the shelf variety where you can actually see the trains, then the lack of things like windows, wipers, MU hoses, weathering, and so forth becomes more obvious.
Too detailed? No such thing IMO.
Modeling the N&W freelanced at the height of their steam era in HO.
Daniel G.
You guys just summed up why I also shy away from the club mentality. By the way, the "wood 2x3" comment, great.
maxman 7j43k I am amazed to hear how thoughtless some modelers are with other people's equipment. 7j43k And I would be thrilled to kick out of a club anyone who thought that the above concept didn't apply to them. Kicking someone out is easier said than done. We have a club member who is prone to distraction, and is responsible for more than his share of collisions. Unfortunately, he seems to have the attitude that these are "just toys". I suppose that it would be better if some of the "toys" were his. On the other hand, even though we would like to not have him run any of the control panels, we do need support to run the railroad during our open houses. And he is always available. The other side of this coin is that I have watched all the other members, many of whom are vocal critics of the first individual, and there is not one amongst them, myself included, who has not had one incident or another. My solution is to not bring any of my "toys" to the club during any group operation, blue box or otherwise. And if I were to bring them, they would resemble a wood 2 x 3 with trucks and Kadee couplers, and all the ladders, grabs, and other details would be painted on.
7j43k I am amazed to hear how thoughtless some modelers are with other people's equipment.
7j43k And I would be thrilled to kick out of a club anyone who thought that the above concept didn't apply to them.
Kicking someone out is easier said than done.
We have a club member who is prone to distraction, and is responsible for more than his share of collisions. Unfortunately, he seems to have the attitude that these are "just toys". I suppose that it would be better if some of the "toys" were his.
On the other hand, even though we would like to not have him run any of the control panels, we do need support to run the railroad during our open houses. And he is always available.
The other side of this coin is that I have watched all the other members, many of whom are vocal critics of the first individual, and there is not one amongst them, myself included, who has not had one incident or another.
My solution is to not bring any of my "toys" to the club during any group operation, blue box or otherwise. And if I were to bring them, they would resemble a wood 2 x 3 with trucks and Kadee couplers, and all the ladders, grabs, and other details would be painted on.
Sounds like you have "Gomaz Adams" at the operations
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
7j43kI am amazed to hear how thoughtless some modelers are with other people's equipment.
7j43kAnd I would be thrilled to kick out of a club anyone who thought that the above concept didn't apply to them.
I am amazed to hear how thoughtless some modelers are with other people's equipment. Why would you pick up anyone's equipment unless you were absolutely sure that you wouldn't damage it? And, if you did damage it, why would you not grovel for 10 minutes and then offer to fully replace the damaged item(s) which you now, obviously, own?
Oh, yeah. And being "absolutely sure" has to have a basis in fact--not your fantasy view of yourself.
And I would be thrilled to kick out of a club anyone who thought that the above concept didn't apply to them.
If you want to transport delicate rolling stock, just bubble wrap and put in tote, for real protection like in storage, use original boxes too.
Railroaded says it well. This is why I enjoy flea markets/swap meets every several months- the old Atheran BB stuff can be rebuilt/repainted/redecaled to look quite nice and that stuff wears well. Not that we need to treat any of our models like a 4 year old playing with toys, but the durability of the old stuff serves decade after decade! I enjoy real-world fidelity, but not so much as longevity!
Cedarwoodron
The only problem I have ever had with the A-Line tote system was when I was active with the local modular group-- I couldn't walk away from the bags to work on other things during layout tear-down because some helpful person or another would invariably roll them over on their sides so that they would lay like the Axian trays and bags one of the other guys used. I heard "they stack better on the cart this way" as the explanation/excuse more than once.
This, despite my clearly having painted "This Side UP", with arrows in white paint on the sides, and the handles clearly not being set up for them to be transported "flat".
-Fritz Milhaupt, Publications Editor, Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc.http://www.pmhistsoc.org
This whole subject is exactly why I stray away from over priced, overdetailed model railroad equipment. I need stuff that works, runs, preforms. Sure, I like it to look nice too, who doesn't?....but do you REALLY need prototypically correct brake pipes & all the hand brake linkage or other "crazy level" details? You can't see half that stuff when the trains are running on the layout anyway. Does a new $35 freight car look good? Absolutley. But then you start to use it in operation & it drives you nuts. The trucks hit the simulated brake equipment & it derails, the air hoses interfere with the couplers, the details bust off every time you touch it or try to work on it. For me, they're a guilty pleasure. Most of my stuff is of the Athearn Blue Box or Roundhouse level of deatail, & although admittedly a little chuncky, this style of equipment, if weighted properly with proper coupler heights, are nearly 100 % bullet proof good runners that give little trouble & much satisfaction compared to a newer one that looks better but makes you insane with all it's "issues". There's an excellent variety of these older cars & since no one wants them anymore I can get 3 to 1 prices as compared to new items & I can litterally fill up my yards with them. Once they're weathered, they're just as nice, to me anyway.
I use both the Proto and A Line boxes without much trouble. As many have stated, the engines nestled in one box and like rolling stock in another. I do keep them as flat as possible and avoid any unwanted jarring/ movement. My quite fragile, highly detailed stock stays on the layout or is transported in it's original box, whenever possible. I will keep a stock odd cut blocks of foam on hand for filler for any empty slots or just throw in a random BB 40 footer to fill the tray. There's really no sure fire way/ method, as my new Spring Mills depot B&O I-12 was damaged from a minor drop. Those delicate detail parts just really can't be reproduced as well scratched built in brass/ wire. I do replace many broken grabs, sunshades pilot details etc w/ more durable brass whenever possible. Just need to use care in handling.
I use SMD boxes with their special-designed tote bag. Carry them in my trunk (since that's the only place they can easily fit in my small car), zero damage so far...
-Ken in Maryland (B&O modeler, former CSX modeler)
I am in the process of building an old Branchline Blueprint Series box car kit, and given the teeny tiny details- some of which get damaged just looking at them-, I become increasing fond of the highly durable (though less accurately detailed) Athearn BB kits and old RTRs. The storage of my modern RTRs, both diesels and rolling stock has become problematic.
Can't use certain foam materials (such as styrofoam chips), as they are too stiff and can cause damage to delicate parts- and many of mine are in static storage, to be rotated out for use only on a quarterly basis on the layout.
My best solution has been a simple one- wrap each car in three full sheets of Bounty paper towels in a diagonal manner, then fold the ends together over the rolled item and secure with masking tape. This seems to stabilize the car within a protective "shell" that provides end protection on each model. I store 25-40 in one of those plastic file-folder type hinged file boxes (Sterilite) I buy at Wal-Mart. If I need to transport them, holding th box by the carrying handle minimizes any movement, so long as I have nested and packed each model well.
Fortunately, our club has more than enough engines and cars
I like Plano plastic boxes for transporting stock. I use doubled paper towels to lift them in and out, and closed-cell foam to buffer the ends. Open cell foam can snag details. The Plano boxes are kind of limiting if you have a lot of long cars and engines, but are very durable and easy to handle.
Todays cars are a lot less fragile than you think, that being said sometimes you have to replace parts. Modern RTR stuff has metal for grabs ussually but not necisarily if same item bought as kit. I have had a few hit the concrete once because I picked up a carry box I thought was empty, boy was I happy that there was very little damage and these were Tichy based, very detailed.
I still say your main problem is having the taller cases when you didn;t need them. Between the foam along the bottom of each channel, pls the piece of foam that cradles each car, not to mention th blocks one th ends, none of my cars moves around much.
Forgot to mention the most fragile car I have - Kadee covered hopper. How they mold and then assemble plastic pieces as small as the corner and end grabs on the roof walks I'll never know. I broke one just getting it out of the original box when it was new. However, since I've been using the A-Line carrying case, nothing on that car has ever been damaged.
Things should be well packed in, too, not just a coupel of cars in each row. That also keeps them from moving. And similar cars should go together, so that you don;t have, say, a car that is a little wide in the middle of a couple smaller ones - the smaller oens will rattle around. I'd have to get them out to see how many I have in each row, but I did make a list and keep it in the top box which lists each box and how many of which cars go in each row. Partly so I avoid packing up and somehow not fitting everything back in - wait, they all came out of this many boxes, why can't they go back in? and also to make sure everything is packed right to avoid damage. So far so good, I like the product. The older ones I had, cheaper, that I picked up at the Timonium show one year - thsoe are definitely only suitable for BB level of detail, because everythign lays on its side. Even then I'd probably not to even a BB loco in them - my Proto 2000 locos with plastic handrails, they didn;t break, but on the side that was always down, they ended up bent into the body, took a piece of foam spacer and a long time to ge tthem back the way they should be. Probably bend the metal stanchions on a BB loco even.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Buy brass or change out the cheap plastic details with metal. The new RTRs are indeed fragile. I have detailed several cars and the end result was a lot more robust than what can be bought. This is because the details were metal. If it's too fragile to move than maybe it's too fragile period. Some are better than others, so I don't put them all in the same category.
Richard
I leave my fancy, finely detailed, high dollar rtr stuff at home; and take Athearn BB and old MDC to the club and modular setups. I use Barkley's Better Boxes (a show vendor out of Houston) which work really well for my purposes.
NP2626
You are correct in your assumptions. I had originally said to myself that I should just take the Athearn BB stuff to the club but was being lazy and I paid the price for it. The older BB stuff is packed away in the garage and I didn't feel like digging it out. All of the new RTR cars is very detailed and easily fragile. The steel coil cars are the absolute worst even with careful packing as I thought I had did. I had wrapped them in bubble wrap but to no avail pieces just started to break off soon after I bought it. As far as the tote system its only good if you have all 4 boxes in bag other than that the boxes move around. My club is in the basement so you have to go up and down stairs and that could have further contributed to the problem along.
I probably will go online and start buying the older BB cars for use. Even the older Athearn engines held up much better since they have the user installed metal handrails, gates, etc. They haven't sustained a scratch.
Are models today too detailed and fragile or A-Line Hobby Tote system not worth it???
Most seem to want all the fragile detailing, so we have made our bed, we need to lay in it now!
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
TheWizardThat's what Athearn RTR is for :)
Not so fast..Some of those RTR cars and locomotives has fragile detail that will easily break off..
My solution is rather simple..I keep my higher detail cars and locomotives at home and use Athearn BB engines and cars along with some Walthers,Roundhouse and older Atlas cars at the club.
I been thinking about using the newer Bachmann locomotives instead of my faithful BB engines.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
So there. lol
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
ACYI can't think of any other options, but I'm ready to listen to other ideas.
I like option 4, leave the highly detailed models on the railroad at home and just travel with the clunkers. Keep the detailed models away from Joe Smash and Harry Crash at the club.