Model railroad waste

[aloco]

Do you find yourself throwing a lot of stuff away when you build a layout or take on a modeling project? Scraps of plastic, unused parts, wood, styrofoam, bits of metal, etc. ? I find that it's quite easy to fill up a garbage can when modeling, and I'm wondering how much of the stuff that gets thrown out can actually be recycled. For example, all the plastic that gets thrown away could be melted down and made into new locomotive shells.

[Anonymous]

Well, good luck finding a vendor to actually recycle in the way your thinking about, BUT, I save ANYTHING that remotely looks like a scale board, grate, handrail, Junkpile, Railing, etc etc. First I save Everysingle last box of any thing that is going to be created. Stock car, Engine, Model. I never use everything that comes in the box, cuase I do a lot of kitbashing or fitting. Anything not used, stays in that box and then put in it proper place on the storage shelves. I never need to buy detailing parts. For items that I just cant find a place for , I have 2 small toolboxes I bought from Ace hardware that are about 10x 5 inches. Inside these are anything that is found that I did not use at the time. there is everything from piece of plaster that looks like a rock to the bases of trees and even feet from people that i had to cutoff to put inside a cab. I used the feet once in a Garage scene I made on the layout.
I throw away everything that is worthless. Mostly everything that can be sucked up from a vacuum is trash or broken parts! Very good question and even with all this i do, I STILL HAVE A LOAD OF TRASH AFTER A LARGE PROJECT< lol! so, Go figure!

[Anonymous]

Scraps get dumped in an HO scale land fill on the layout!

[selector]

My scraps, once labeled as such, go into the 1/1 land-fill. If they're really scrap, they have no place in my already cluttered home. I do, however, try to imagine a use for anything I hold over the big open can....just in case.

[howmus]

I recycle as much as is practical (make it a way of life!). Boxes, plastic that is marked for recycling, paper, etc all goes in the box to be recyled. Wood scraps are split and used to start the fires in my woodstove during the winter. Unused parts are saved for kitbashing and scratchbuilding whenever possible. And..... Way too much finds its way into the trash. I wi***here was recycling symbols on the sprue that makes up most of many kits, but it would be difficult to do. Each of us needs to do our part to keep the planet healthy and safe!

[Train 284]

I try to use stuff like that for junk piles, hopper loads, etc.

Matt

[dwRavenstar]

It's always been a part of "the process" for me to look at everything extra as a possible part for something else I might one day build into the layout. It's like the idea in the current MR for plastic parts sprues finding a second life as exhaust vents up the side of a building.
Moving from N-scale to HO has taken some getting used to but has opened a whole new world of opportunities for scraps and little odds and ends from all over the place. I work in an Alcoa aluminum extrusions plant and by the end of a 12 hour shift the floor around our press and saws is littered with saw chips (aluminum sawdust) and thin strips of aluminum. These are so low scale that we don't even put them in the scrap dumpster to be remelted. They go directly in File 13. My point is that they see useless scraps but my mind sees quarter inch wide by up to three inch long (2ft X 20ft scale) aluminum sheets that will one day be used for "repairs" in the pike's car shop or serve as roofing for a back porch or somewhere. You can bet the lumber company / contractor will have a number of them in the out back dumpster and company pick-up at the end of the day. [8D]
Think twice, toss once. You can think again later but once tossed is all the chance you get.

Dave (dwRavenstar)

[Jetrock]

I always save leftover parts from kits--you never know where they'll come in handy! Scrap wood is useful down to a point--I'm constantly making use of little nubs of lumber here and there, but obviously one runs low on storage space.

Every time I use part of an item, I will assess the remainder--Could it come in handy? Is it large/unused enough to be useful? Do I have rom for it? If the answer to all three is "yes" then I keep it.

On the flipside of this, it's always a good idea to keep an eye out for ways that household junk can be useful on the model railroad!

[IRONROOSTER]

If it doesn't smell I save it for some future use.[:D] Problem is, I have way too much. I am trying to discipline myself to only keep one box of scraps.

Enjoy
Paul