Does anybody have any experience with companies that manufacture small boxes that I can store freight cars in? I have purchased some directly from model manufacturers, but they can get a bit pricey (they are getting them from somewhere). There are websites that have numerous types of boxes for sale, but it is a bit comfusing. I'm looking for the kind of box like the old Athearn "Blue Box", Model Die Casting, Accurail. Something like that, doesn't have to be fancy. Anybody looking for something similar?
Jim
If you don't have the original boxes for rolling stock (and some doesn't fit back in the original box after assembly), you can get storage boxes from several manufacturers. It's not a box for one car, it's a box that holds a dozen or more. I originally had some cheap ones where you lay the car on its side, despite the foam protection it was bending handrails and causing damage when transporting them, so I switched to the ones from A-Line, which srotes the cars on their wheels. The cars and locos I usually take to run at train shows fit in a set of 4 of them, which goes in a carry case - if you don't carry your stuff around you don't need to buy the carry case. There's been no damage to anything, not even a grab iron knocked off, since I switched to these boxes. There's a link to an article from one of the magazineson their site showing a simple wood rolling cart that someone built that holds the boxes, stores a lot of rolling stock in a small space. Keep an inventory sheet and label each box and you'll be able to quickly find anything. And it's all more dense storage than using the original boxes - which also are never the same size from maufacturer to manufacturer.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I don't take my cars anywhere so I'm searching for boxes that would hold only one car. Over the years I have accumulated a fair number of cars without boxes and would like to store them and identify which car is in which box. In fact years ago I bought a car from a guy at a train show that had just such a box. It was plain and the proper size. I wish I had thought to ask him where he got the box.
You could take a look at this company:
www.uline.com
They have a huge variety of packaging supplies. Also office supply stores such as Staples, and Office Depot could be another source.
You can buy empty "Blue Boxes" on eBay, too.
Mike.
My You Tube
For older Athearn,Roundhouse and Walthers cars I use a garden tray.
Like this.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41vqkHFVOYL._SY300_QL70_.jpg
For my high detail cars and locomotives I use their boxes.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Try Papermart: http://www.papermart.com/tuck-top-corrugated-mailing-boxes/id=1172#1172
I am a frugal sort, so I tend to look for free alternatives to buying storage boxes. Many smaller cars (HO) such as 34' hoppers, 36' reefers, and some tank cars, fit comfortably in the cardstock boxes my checks come in from the bank. If I needed longer boxes I could empty out the Accurail, Blue Box and MDC originals for short cars and use the check boxes for those cars, thus freeing up the longer boxes.
Another good source for longer boxes is various office supplies and before I retired I made sure our office management staff knew of my interest in these small but sturdy boxes, which otherwise would have been thrown away.
This may sound like the ultimate in frugality but it would be a pretty simple matter to make your own boxes out of discarded breakfast cereal boxes.
Lastly, with the revived interest in cigars in the last few decades, cigar stores and smoke shops often have cigar boxes that they can give away. I can fit two or three cars in one of those boxes. They stack up well, too. I happen to like the smell of tobacco (before it is smoked that is) so I do not mind the aromas.
Dave Nelson
I remember either seeing a vendor sell or acutally use storage boxes for freight cars. My wife gets annoyed that I still have the original boxes on my 35+ rolling stock. I would hate to recycle them.
Why not call one of the manufacturers to see how to get extra boxes? Have you consulted e-bay? What about asking on an HO swap forum?
Thanks for the suggestions. If I come up with something that works and is reasonably inexpensive I will report back.
jim
Dave,
I remember when I was in first grade (about 1963) each kid had to bring in cigar box to put our pencils, crayons, and whatever else we had. I think mine was an "El Producto" or a "White Owl".
I use plastic shelves which hold about 8 to 12 cars each. I cut foam padding to fit into the bottom which keeps the cars from rolling. http://www.sterilite.com/SelectProduct.html?id=329&ProductCategory=186§ion=1
Someday when I am rich I might replace them with metal drawers like the toolbox kind or the kind university’s have.
Some cars I keep in their original boxes but not many because I got into the habit of throwing them away because Athearn and some other brands car’s won’t fit back into the boxes with couplers installed.
If you want the exact boxes you can find used boxes on eBay.
j..............
Look at "Ziplock rectangular food storage" The rectangular ones come in many sizes and will be much cheaper than buying new cardboard boxes. Costco often has them in the mega packs.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Accurail will sell you empty boxes. Their standard-size ones are $2.99 for three - a little pricey in my opinion, but perhaps they'd offer a better price for a good-sized order. Their long boxes are no longer available.
I do some scratchbuilding and also buy used cars at train shows or hobbyshops, and these often come without a box. I have had some luck getting free empty boxes at my LHS, but it depends if they have any and if I'm spending some money on other stuff.
For short cars, like Athearn's 34' hoppers, I put them in Athearn boxes from passenger cars - four will fit in each.
Some Walthers boxes are good for two 52'6" cars, like these kitbashed bulkhead flats. Gondolas and flatcars can be stored similarly, but on their wheels:
The passenger cars go in homemade trays in fruit-shipping boxes:
...and likewise for some MoW equipment:
...these can be lifted out and opened at their front:
All but one of my staging yards are stacked in the same area, so it makes sense to keep each car in a separate box below that. Cars cycle on and off the layout regularly:
Wayne
doctorwayne Accurail will sell you empty boxes. Their standard-size ones are $2.99 for three - a little pricey in my opinion, but perhaps they'd offer a better price for a good-sized order
Accurail will sell you empty boxes. Their standard-size ones are $2.99 for three - a little pricey in my opinion, but perhaps they'd offer a better price for a good-sized order
If a buck a box is in your price range, go to any Cigar store, where any empty box is a $1. Many of the boxes are wood (I remember cardboard boxes as a kid, but maybe those were King Edward Cigars.)
The smallest will hold a couple or 3 freight cars and the bigger ones, bound in fake leather, will hold a couple passenger cars. Only the best for my private varnish.
If you are not a smoker, and I am not, the price sticker on the entire box of cigars will be similar to a DCC diesel. 5 ₵ cigars are a thing of the past, like Brill streetcars.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
If anyone cared to look at the Papermart link I provided, a 5X2X2 box can be purchased (in a bundle of 100) for 22 cents each plus shipping.
maxman If anyone cared to look at the Papermart link I provided, a 5X2X2 box can be purchased (in a bundle of 100) for 22 cents each plus shipping.
Indeed, that seems a good price assuming the quantity makes sense for you. The corrugated boxes might seem like overkill in terms of bulk and strength but I am reminded that that is what Minuteman brand wheel weathering jigs come in, and I have repurposed those boxes to hold rolling stock. The website also mentions chipboard boxes which would be more like what commercial models come in:
http://www.papermart.com/brown-reverse-tuck-ends-chipboard-boxes/id=1101#1101
As long as we are talking repurposed boxes I suppose I should have mentioned shoe boxes which can also hold many models in multiple layers, although not with the most convenient access to all of them. Mostly I use shoeboxes to hold parts which I own in quantity, or "junker" models that I use to practice various painting or weathering techniques on.
For cars I have purchased without a box I usually use boxes that checks come in. The new ones aren't as good, but I think they are still adaquate for car storage.
I also have some larger, flat boxes that frozen food has come in. With foam dividers they will hold quite a number of cars.
Good luck,
Richard
Try Uline for boxes.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
cowmanFor cars I have purchased without a box I usually use boxes that checks come in. The new ones aren't as good, but I think they are still adaquate for car storage.
If your checks still come in a box. Mine no longer do. Since everyone else seems to do their bill paying on line, the bank I deal with no longer sends them out that way. Mine show up in a flat envelope, and the number of checks mailed to me is smaller.
Yes, mine show up in a flat envelope too, but there is a "fold-it-yourself" box with them. Not as good as the old ones, but adaquate.
Have fun,
Found some boxes from U.S. Box corp. 9 3/4" X 3" X 2" for 68 cents per box. They refer to them as "silverware boxes". They will hold just about any car I have except the big lumber flats. Again thanks for the suggestions.