Hi guys,
AS some of you know already I unfortunately have to take down my small HO layout to provide more room in the room it is in for "other stuff" I will be reduced for a time to running trains only under the Christmas tree for a month and a half untill we get a MRR space covered by a house or an extra room in a year, two or three.
My question is: How best to store my trains? {I do have every box every car and loco came in but they are rather cumbersome, stored out in the shed, and I would really like to recycle those-IF I can ever get myself to throw anything away- rather than try to store the cars in them and then those in other boxes}
In shoe boxes wrapped in tissue? In bigger plastic storage bins in tissue? cut foam from the craft store to fit? How to protect the couplers? And banging around?
I have thought about those foam lined cardboard boxes designed for such as a compact way to store them, but they can get expensive. I think this is my best bet, but If I go this route, should I still wrap the cars/engines in tissues within the foam to avoid foam contamination? Would this be really the best?
Also should I try my durnedest to store all that indoors or will I ask for trouble in the future if I store teh trains in a storage shed that is NOT climate controlled? Will NS track deteriorate in a non-climate controlled storage shed? Remember they {except my fav pieces to run at Xmas} could be in the storage shed for 2-3 years.
Or Should I give it all up and sell on ebay and replace all in teh future? {hardly likely lol}
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
galaxyMy question is: How best to store my trains? {I do have every box every car and loco came in but they are rather cumbersome,
I would really like to recycle those rather than try to store the cars in them and then those in other boxes
I have thought about those foam lined cardboard boxes designed for such as a compact way to store them, but they can get expensive. I think this is my best bet, but If I go this route, should I still wrap the cars/engines in tissues within the foam to avoid foam contamination?
Also should I try my durnedest to store all that indoors or will I ask for trouble in the future if I store teh trains in a storage shed that is NOT climate controlled? Will NS track deteriorate in a non-climate controlled storage shed?
i would go for the heavier gauge plastic totes. they stack well and will keep all the rodants out that like to chew up cardboard and small plastic parts like train cars and locos to make nests. go ahead, ask me how i know... lol
if you can, keep them inside. you can get 30 gallon totes at wally world for around 8.00 per tote. the orignal boxes that your models came in stack really nice in them, and they fit really nice in the bottom of a closet. and your wife can set her shoes on them!!!! lol
Galaxy,
Go to your local Discount Store-Wal Mart/Target/Big Lots-and buy some Rubbermaid containers.
I've bought three sets of three drawered rolling cabinets and I have all my model rr stuff in them.
John P
I too would recommend keeping them in their original boxes. For the ones that do not have form fitting inserts, I would take a few of those annoying packing peanuts and put them in each box to take up the excess space at both ends (helps protect the coupler) and above the car to hold its wheels against the side of the box, Usually the cars are pretty close to the width of the box. I have had things come in the mail done this way, made it in fine shape and I'm sure those small boxes were handled much rougher than you will ever handle them (bar accident).
Hope your interruption isn't as long as you think.
Good luck,
Unfortunately I have had to tear down one extremely large layout and a few years back due to a furnace blow back which left my entire house covered in oily soot completely destroyed my work in progress layout. Not really but thats what we told the insurance company. So after getting paid to clean my own trains I put as many as I could back in the original boxes and the 300 or so that no longer had the original boxes I went to staples and bought file boxes which were relatively inexpensive and one of the home centers had bubble wrap designed to wrap plates etc. in so it was like a pocket. So even the smallest size held the largest piece of rolling stock with room to spare. I also put structures in those same boxes and used foam rubber as a base and in between each building. Anything will work even newspaper you just want to keep them from getting jostled around. Once you find a home for them providing no one is going to touch them they should be fine. Please try and find a home for them inside your house some place, if you put them in a shed out doors sealed plastic totes are an absolute must along with some kind of descant to absorb moisture. Even the smallest amount of which is not good for anything model railroad related. Lastly what ever you do please label the contents of the boxes on the sides and the tops ask me how I know this is a smart thing to do.
I to live in a house which some times I question if the trailer homes around the corner are larger then my shoe box and I have a very active little boy who loves playing with his toys and has them all over the house. I have layed awake feeling guilty having not built the large family room like I had planned when I bought the Ponderosa so after sleepless nights of contemplation I figured I would be the better dad then a model railroader and tear down the layout and make the train room back into a family /playroom. When I informed my wife of my decision one morning fully planning on calling up my friend to come over and start dismantling it, she chimed up and said I won't permit it!, You have too much time and money to stop now and besides he loves daddy's trains and I thought that was going to be his layout when you build your big empire out in the barn. I think she's a keeper.
when i moved i had to store about 500 cars and locos for a couple of years. the stackable plastic totes worked well.
i did not want to rebox everything and lacked enough original boxes to do so.
i bought a bunch of cheap paper towels to wrap everything in and covered each layer of cars with shredded paper i had a local business office save for me. (they shred a lot of paper)
. only casualties were a few brake wheels but they were easy to find in the paper towels when i unwrapped the cars.
if you have any hood unit diesels or yard engines it is a good idea to stuff a bit of foam between the body and hand rails to keep them from bending inward and taking a "set" in that position.
if you have any hand held remote control units, be sure to take the batteries out of them.
i stored the switches by laying them flat in a box and just bundled the flex track up with clear tape.
grizlump
This is how I store and transport most of my rolling stock.
I prefer the plastic tubs with the flip-top lids, so the lids don't get lost. The cardboard trays are soda flats, hold 24 cans. Sometimes it takes a bit to find the most efficient use of space. 50' boxcars fit better, get 10-12 to a tray. More detailed cars, cabooses, engines stay in the factory packaging, unless it won't fit.
I have a slightly bigger tub, different cardboard trays, that has 75 covered hoppers ready to go.
Mike WSOR engineer | HO scale since 1988 | Visit our club www.WCGandyDancers.com
After experiencing the hurricanes of 2004 I had to store my trains for a while. I also bought those big plastic totes at Walmart, and wrapped each piece in the cheapest paper towels I could find at the dollar store. Wrap the towels around the model like a diaper so you wont lose any parts that might fall off. I then put the cars in the original boxes if I had them, and stacked them in the totes. Otherwise they got stacked directly in the tote. The totes got stored in a rented storage unit for a couple years with no bad results to the trains.
Recently I have begun using plastic drawer cabinets that I get at Target...made by Sterilite, they come in various sizes. I use the rolling 7-drawer crafts cabinets (about $30 ) and the 3-drawer cabinets (about $10). They allow me to find the cars quickly but keep them out of the reach of my herd of cats.
Whatever you do, DONT use the rubberized kitchen drawer liner sheets (I think Kitchenmaid makes them); the oils in the sheet will attack the plastic in your models.
Bill
Why spend money on storage, when you still have the original boxes? They offer the best protection of your investment and may even add to the value, should you decide to sell at a later date. I still have a loco that was stored in its original box for over 20 years. It survived 5 moves and still is in mint condition.
I store my rolling stock in their original boxes, and keep the boxes in plastic crates with the flip top lids, like WSOR.
Nick
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Sir MadogWhy spend money on storage, when you still have the original boxes? They offer the best protection of your investment and may even add to the value, should you decide to sell at a later date.
It has been my experience that many cars will not fit back into their original boxes once the couplers are installed. And I think that in the case of the Athearn blue box kits, just about 100% of them won't fit. Some of the newer, highly detailed cars that come in the see-through sleeve type box are probably a different story.
As far as investment and maybe adding to value go, well it's nice to dream, but I don't think so unless you have a brass item. But then, I'm a pessimist.
When I was forced to pack up and store my N scale equipment during a move, I put everything into their original (or after market) jewel boxes, and packed these into paper boxes. (I used mostly boxes for 8.5"x14" copier paper, which I am in a position to acquire.) After a move or two, I had a buddy hold them at his place for a couple of years.
My buddy was moving, and asked to pick up my stuff. Unfortunately, he stored the boxes in a bat-infested attic, and everything had to be repacked, because the original boxes were contaminated with bat guano. I found most of my stuff was in good shape, and I simply repacked it in new paper boxes.
If you rent a storage locker, I think it might be a good idea to get or make a pallet, and store your boxed items on top of it, especially if you use cardboard boxes.
Hope this helps.
Dan
HO MRR stuff being stored in plastic bins without factory boxes is acceptable when you are the one handling them. When the moving is done by professional movers, it can be a disaster even when well wrapped and padded.
Storage in a non climate controlled environment is not necessarily a problem. All of my stuff was stored in a rental space in OH for 2 summers. No issues. Then it spent 2 summers in my garage in AZ where triple digit temps are common during the summer. No problem.
I am in the process of moving. I am repacking all the trains I was using in their original boxes. Most of these have styrofoam inserts, for those that don't I use Kleenex or Bounty Paper towels. Some of my trains have been sitting in their original boxes for over 10 years waiting for when I build the "big one", none of these have had problems.
Enjoy
Paul
Thanks for suggestions and pics guys.
I was hoping to conserve space by packing tightly so as to minimize the bins I need, that was why I thought about abandoning the original boxes for the foam containers.
I have too much stuff and not enough space to put it in!
I've been using the A-Line/ProtoPowerWest carrying cases for several years, and they've worked great for me not only for when I moved to my current home but when I take cars off the layout at staging yards and store them under the layout.
Kevin
http://chatanuga.org/RailPage.html
http://chatanuga.org/WLMR.html
galaxyI have too much stuff and not enough space to put it in!
I'll post here what I posted in another similar thread. I use storage boxes made by Axian Technologies:
They'll hold up to 20 - 40' cars or about 8 Mikado-size locomotives. I've been very happy with them so far.
However, although the foam holds the contents very securely, the manufacturer does warn about using the boxes for "long-term storage". (There have been a few instances where the paint and foam have stuck together when in contact with one another over a long period of time.)
Axian suggests using either tissue paper or thin plastic sheeting (like a dry cleaning bag) as a barrier between the foam and your locomotive and/or rolling stock. I use tissue paper underneath and over the top of my locomotives and rolling stock. You can pick up a decent size pack at Michael's for a dollar or two.
When storing early-era rolling stock, be careful about any vertical brake wheels or delicate parts. The containers also come with additional foam inserts for added padding.
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Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
BillD53ARecently I have begun using plastic drawer cabinets that I get at Target...made by Sterilite, they come in various sizes. I use the rolling 7-drawer crafts cabinets (about $30 ) and the 3-drawer cabinets (about $10). They allow me to find the cars quickly but keep them out of the reach of my herd of cats.
I've been considering this as well, because they can go right under a staging yard, and be in reach to pop a train on and off. My one thing wou;d be to considering lining in a bit of foam, and I suspect that the najority of the loco roster that isn't on the layout will stay either in their boxes, or not in that drawer, just because I'd be worried about the added weight tryint t remove the drawer when open. When you have to move, just tape the drawers.
I employ a series of Dell boxes for storage. The cheapy cars, with the exception of one Model Power ICE train, find there way into a long, narrow software box. It's about wide enough for a hopper As the cas move up in quality or size, they get a larger version, 50ft boxcar width. I've also used those boxes to move trains in, but for movements, I tend to rely on a pizzabox type Dell Box. It's just tall enough for engines, and is wide nough to either hold an 85ft coach, or a 72ft longwaysm with two more 72ft endways. I can carry, depending on the consist your usung, a full train for the George Washington; the Bachmann set, plus a baggage and 2 extra sleepers, and i I model it, the Imperial Salon. It's a snug enough fit that things don't shift, but I'm also not knocking off details putting things in or out. Since the GW is gonna spend more time travelling to clubs then on the layout, it happily stays in that box.
Same goes for the ITM train, though I suspect the engines will stay boxed, since I have them. That's 8 Athearn (okay, so some are Globe cars) 3 Walthers full sizes, a Spectrum water car, a PRR B60, possibly a Roundhouse Obs.
One of these is also chock full of Orient Express cars
I've also carried 2 Kato cars, a pair of boxed Walthers, and a loose walthers coach in said box.
Personally, I'd box the locos, wrap and store the cars.
-Morgan
tstage I use storage boxes made by Axian Technologies: However, although the foam holds the contents very securely, the manufacturer does warn about using the boxes for "long-term storage". (There have been a few instances where the paint and foam have stuck together when in contact with one another over a long period of time.) Axian suggests using either tissue paper or thin plastic sheeting (like a dry cleaning bag) as a barrier between the foam and your locomotive and/or rolling stock. I use tissue paper underneath and over the top of my locomotives and rolling stock. You can pick up a decent size pack at Michael's for a dollar or two.
I use storage boxes made by Axian Technologies:
Ah see now that was one thing I was wondering about using these systems. Thanks Tom
When I had to pack up and move a few years back, I packed all my rolling stock in the plastic storage tubs others have shown in photos. However, I lined them with extruded foam, then loaded them with cars separated from each other by pieces of thin foam - fan-fold underlayment. As I filled each layer, I inserted a 'deck' of thin foam, then started with a new layer of cars and separators.
Locomotives and passenger equipment, and a few special freight cars, were packed at the bottom, with lighter-weight cars in the upper levels.
Everything survived seventeen hundred miles in the bed of a shell-covered pickup, followed by months awaiting track space on the new layout. If I had it to do over, I'd do the same thing again (if I can get the tubs back from my wife - she's using them to store out-of-season clothing and bedding...)
As for the original boxes, most of them joined the recycle stream a long time ago. Most of my rolling stock is assembled kits, and the finished models wouldn't fit in the original kit boxes anyway. Nowadays, I have a half-dozen 'heritage' steamers in their original boxes. The other original boxes I own are still filled with unassembled kits.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)