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Paper Containers

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Posted by LensCapOn on Friday, April 10, 2015 7:10 PM

I do wish others would post images here. Anyway, here are some more.  16 new Krafttrain were printed, all 45’ and are in the front. There are also two Digcom sourced with an Atlas 48 trailer for a comparison. I think they all hold up well, although the colored containers need touchup on the fold lines.
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Posted by LensCapOn on Monday, April 6, 2015 7:50 AM

ricktrains4824

 

Now if I can get some more ink somewhere nearby....... Whistling

Maybe then I can get some test models done... 

 

Pfft. Go to Amazon. Type in your printer model and "ink". See a huge number of generic cartridges. Order some..

 

And matte paper had no problems, outside of Not having a gloss coat.

 

Post some pics if you do it.

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Posted by ricktrains4824 on Sunday, April 5, 2015 8:45 PM

Looks good. Glad to see the photo paper is an option. (Although tougher to work with, might be an issue that way...)

Now if I can get some more ink somewhere nearby....... Whistling

Maybe then I can get some test models done... 

Ricky W.

HO scale Proto-freelancer.

My Railroad rules:

1: It's my railroad, my rules.

2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.

3: Any objections, consult above rules.

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Posted by LensCapOn on Sunday, April 5, 2015 8:30 PM

I have done more containers using a variety of papers. In the first two images the J.B.HUNT are, left to right, gloss photo, matte photo, and cardstock. The gloss has the clearest detail, but is harder to work. I am having trouble with the scribing. It is either too stiff to bend or a near cut through. The matte and cardstock are easier for me.  Also, if the cardstock is printed as a matte photo paper there is a noticeable increase in image quality. It is then slightly less than matte.
1
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Posted by LensCapOn on Friday, March 27, 2015 7:44 AM

I was hoping people would post images of their cars, since so many said this was an old topic.

 

Please feel free to do so.

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Posted by LensCapOn on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 10:40 AM

Mine are a tight (enough) fit so I don't see a problem. At least when a 48' container is in a 48' well. If the container is smaller than the well weight alone wouldn't be enough even if they were solid lead.

 

Scale and cars you are using could change things.

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Posted by ricktrains4824 on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 10:28 AM

Looks pretty nice. I was thinking, that photo paper may look better than card stock/craft paper, but was not yet ready to try that. Glad it works, my next set I will try it as well. Do the tend to stay put when the train is in motion, or do you find that they need some gentle "encouragement" to remain stacked? (Thinking I should tape mine together....)

Ricky W.

HO scale Proto-freelancer.

My Railroad rules:

1: It's my railroad, my rules.

2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.

3: Any objections, consult above rules.

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Posted by tomikawaTT on Tuesday, March 24, 2015 8:03 PM

For my, "Photocopied from a die-cast original," JNR standard containers (which are ONLY standard if you model Japanese prototype in 1:80 scale) I cut the four sides and top separately and glued them to carefully sized balsa cores.  The cars are heavy enough that the containers don't have to weigh much.

Of course, I could have stuck a couple of nails into each box, and then used a magnetized unloading crane.  Maybe next batch...

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

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Posted by gmpullman on Tuesday, March 24, 2015 4:17 PM

Thanks, Cuyama! I'll give that a shot next time I need to link to a thread within this site. My external links work just fine.

Appreciate the help, Ed

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Posted by ricktrains4824 on Tuesday, March 24, 2015 3:50 PM

Sorry LensCapOn,

The web site creators forgot that "URL" had to die.... Whistling

But I must admit, that was a good one! Laugh

 

Ricky W.

HO scale Proto-freelancer.

My Railroad rules:

1: It's my railroad, my rules.

2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.

3: Any objections, consult above rules.

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Posted by LensCapOn on Tuesday, March 24, 2015 3:43 PM

cuyama

 

 
gmpullman
I don't want to hijack the thread here but I have a question for Cuyama. How do you make your cs.trains links so they actually work?

 

For my combination of Windows 7 and either Firefox or Chrome browsers, I am able to make the links active by typing the terms “url” in brackets at the beginning of; and “/url” in brackets at the end of; the pasted-in link. This graphic shows what is typed in red and the pasted-in link in black:

And this shows the result when typed:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/243121.aspx

I’ not sure that it matters, but I always use the “top level” of each thread for the link. That ends in “aspx”

There may be other ways to accomplish this, but it works for me and doesn’t take long.

 

 

 

Strange, wasn't it determined years ago that "url" had to die?

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x22rqu_dixie-chicks-goodbye-earl_music

 

 

I'll just go now....

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Posted by cuyama on Tuesday, March 24, 2015 1:59 PM

gmpullman
I don't want to hijack the thread here but I have a question for Cuyama. How do you make your cs.trains links so they actually work?

For my combination of Windows 7 and either Firefox or Chrome browsers, I am able to make the links active by typing the terms “url” in brackets at the beginning of; and “/url” in brackets at the end of; the pasted-in link. This graphic shows what is typed in red and the pasted-in link in black:

And this shows the result when typed:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/243121.aspx

I’ not sure that it matters, but I always use the “top level” of each thread for the link. That ends in “aspx”

There may be other ways to accomplish this, but it works for me and doesn’t take long.

 

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Posted by ricktrains4824 on Tuesday, March 24, 2015 1:02 PM

Curious,

Has anybody tried to "stiffen" the models here, and others like it, with styrene? I would assume, you could build a styrene box to match the dimensions needed and put the printed model over that? Seems like it should work, but has anyone done it? Might even use decal or photo paper to do the finish? Anyone tried? Any reasons it won't work? Be a really good looking container, and way under the almost $9 they go for now, and easy scratch build project, right?

Ricky W.

HO scale Proto-freelancer.

My Railroad rules:

1: It's my railroad, my rules.

2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.

3: Any objections, consult above rules.

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Posted by maxman on Monday, March 23, 2015 10:51 PM

I guess those paper containers will crumple up pretty realistically if you have a train wreck.

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Posted by Steven S on Monday, March 23, 2015 10:44 PM

chutton01
you could also "part out" plastic model containers, into side walls, roofs, and ends (with some plain styrene for supports and infill) such that you could represent a stack of 27 containers using only parts of 9 real container models.

If you've got an around-the-walls shelf-style layout, you're only going to see one side so you could use the back side of the container as the front of the top container.  You only need one top piece, but unfortunately you're going to be short two end pieces.  I suppose you could make a mold and cast your own end pieces. 

 

Steve S

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Posted by gmpullman on Monday, March 23, 2015 10:36 PM

I don't want to hijack the thread here but I have a question for Cuyama.

How do you make your cs.trains links so they actually work?

I can make external links work fine but any within the site turn blue when you mouse over them but they never function with a click.

Thanks, Ed

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Posted by chutton01 on Monday, March 23, 2015 9:11 PM

Another trick back in the day was, if you had a scanner and a color printer, to scan the sides of some (actual model) containers you had, and then print those out. This was best done for making background "container mountains" that you often find at ports and inland terminal, since up close they weren't all that great looking.  You could use foam cores or wood blocks or whatever for the core of the container stacks.
In that vein, you could also "part out" plastic model containers, into side walls, roofs, and ends (with some plain styrene for supports and infill) such that you could represent a stack of 27 containers using only parts of 9 real container models.

 

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Posted by zstripe on Monday, March 23, 2015 6:15 PM

I thank My lucky stars everytime I see what they are asking for price wise for the same containers/trailers that I bought back in the late 80's at 2 for 5.00/trailer three packs for 5.00, different numbers. My intermodal train, tub/spine and flat cars, is 40ft long. That would be quite an expensive train now a days.

Take Care! Big Smile

Frank

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Posted by cuyama on Monday, March 23, 2015 6:07 PM

There are a number of threads -- they were more common years ago when the idea was new. Here's one from some years back that cites a different free source (still working).

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/75501.aspx

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Posted by LensCapOn on Monday, March 23, 2015 5:55 PM

That is the one thread I found here. Mine, N scale, fit well in walthers and MDC/Athearn cars, once they were folded in properly. The test fit was the final test for all of them, and I'm no master of assembly.

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Posted by cuyama on Monday, March 23, 2015 5:48 PM

LensCapOn
Unless I missed them, either people aren’t talking about what they know or there is a lot of activity not on blogs anymore (which should concern Kalmbach more than me).

I don't believe that Kalmbach offers blogs, so I'm not sure why they would be concerned.

Printable containers have come up for discussion multiple times over the years. Here's one thread with photos, there are other MR threads on the topic found with a search. The topic came up more often when they were new some years ago.

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/206762.aspx

A couple of my clients have tried them; a common complaint is the difficulty of fitting them into the wells of cars. That may come from printing tolerances or lack of assembly precision.

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Paper Containers
Posted by LensCapOn on Monday, March 23, 2015 5:10 PM

Anyone trying to run a stack train runs into the cost of containers. Looking around, $8-9 each looks normal. Do that for a good number of cars and we have money I would rather spend else ware in the hobby. After a review I gave paper containers a try. Free containers in HO and N are available at krafttrains. Com.
 
 
You need a photo quality printer, and who doesn’t have one, and 8.5x 11 paper. I used 110# craft paper. You will need to score the containers where they will be folded and cut them out.  Glue sticks were used to put them together. The krafttrains containers don’t have a bottom, but it is easy to cut them so they do.  Weight was added by epoxying some solder in the inside of the box. While the files are a tad crude, as was my assembly, they looked good enough to use.
 
After trying the krafttains version I went to DigCom Designs, they have an old website and an active Facebook page.  These are a much finer product, but you have to pay for a file (5.95). There are some free samples, but one container side is covered with their logo so it’s a test sample only.  While the best outcome is with photo paper I am still using the Kraft paper for now.
 
Between the two sources, there are now a dozen complete containers with four more printed and partially cut, sitting in my work area. They are good enough for my needs, and better than the plain container castings I was using before. If this is new to you give them a try. If it’s old news, post some photos of your containers.
 
I did a search for these on all the modeling sites I visit and found a very limited number of short threads. Unless I missed them, either people aren’t talking about what they know or there is a lot of activity not on blogs anymore (which should concern Kalmbach more than me). DigCom has been active for years and has a large catalog by now, including trailers.

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