How do you transport your trains to events?

I've bought a couple of these on eBay to house rolling stock that doesn't come with a case.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-MTH-...;hash=item3aa672ec56

Thanks Mike.  I never knew that such a thing existed.  One learns something new every day.  I will have to purchase a few of those myself, not just for transport, but for storage at the farm.

 

 

I have boxes similar to those that are 30" long. Lined with foam all the way around so your equipment sits up right. The company that made them unfortunately no longer exists.

I wrap them in old cloth napkins i get at goodwill.I leave the OB home and use totes...hope this helps...joe

Wrap in towels and into a plastic tub from Target. 

Originally posted by Amfleet25124:

I've joined a model train club for the first time and today I will be taking my trains (a set and other single items) over to run on the club layout. 

Individual O cars are sold with their own boxes and thus can easily be placed around in a single bin for transport. 

Careful with that move. I did that ONCE, Just ONCE at a former club in Northern, NJ. WOW did I get a Ribbin! I was told that transporting trains in their own boxes and packing material individually is like being an amateur! Pros use cases or wrap trains in old T shirts, foam wrapping, etc. and stored in totes- something that gets them out of the container and onto the track quick without damage during transport and unwrapping[ you don't want details snagging in the protective wrapping

 

So I found these cases at various trains shows and on da bay:

 

The White Plastic tote is an underbed storage tote sold at many big box stores. IT can hold a whole train. I use it to hold my Roadrailers. The blue case is a unique "Double Decker" that too can hold a whole small train- abeit a bit more detailed train than the white plastic case can.

For cars, I've used both original boxes and also wrapping cars in 1/16" foam sheets and carrying them in tubs. The latter method is much more time efficient. Engines are transported in original boxes.  The one exception is my brass Weaver Little Joe.  The pilot railings were too easily damaged taking it in and out of the styrofoam, so I made this wood case. It sits on a piece of track and it's held snug with folded microfiber cloths lining the sides.

 

 

Bob

LOL  Well I was an amature at the North Penn O Gaugers open house last Saturday.  In over 45 years, I never took any trains to an event before, so I took my ImperialB&O Atlantic in it's original box.  No one said anything, and I wasn't the only one to use the original box.  I did open this topic to get ideas for future events.  I too am worried about breaking detail putting it in and out of the original box.  Besides the end flaps are getting bad enough, the whole foam innards could slide right out if I'm not careful.  Thanks for all the ideas.

I have a partitioned cardboard box custom made by Pfister.

 

 

 

I wrap the engines and cars with delicate parts.....but, for less breakable stuff and I small boxes.

 

 

 

 

Peter

You can buy the BCW boxes that Mike points out a lot cheaper at BCW direct.

 

http://www.bcwsupplies.com/cat...storage-box-full-lid

 

Shipping will be less as well.  They have larger ones as well, also a ton of individual ones.

 

BCW Trading Card Boxes

 

These are great for storage or transport.

 

I also have three of these that I have foam lined, I wrap stuff in towels and put them in.  They work great for carrying stuff to shows as well.  Inside dimensions with the foam are over 24" long, even my VL-BB fits.  I get two layers of locomotives and three of rolling stock in them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For trolleys and locos:

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/1...case-69318-8538.html

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/1...inum-case-62272.html

 

My freight cars are mostly of the $5 variety, so I stack 'em in a gym bag and call it good.

 

More delicate freight and specialty cars get carried in their original factory boxes when feasible, or an appropriate-sized cardboard box as needed.

 

Mitch

I have a lot of Ridgid hand tools, and when the company came out with their tool boxes this year. bought a rolling set of 3, wide enough for my engines and rolling stock plus the remotes, gadgets and spares try to carry when my turn to run the layout. On special it was $98 for all 3.

I like the Ridgid cases, very handy with the wheels.  I have a large roll-around, but it turns out it's usually too big to handle full of heavy stuff, so I tend not to use it.

Apart from original boxes, I use two main types of container to transport trains.

 

This is a made-for-trains cardboard box that I got at York. It's made by Uppa Valley Lines. The company doesn't have a website, but their phone number is shown in the second photo. It has movable dividers; the default configuration holds six cars of up to the size of a 40' scale boxcar.

 

 

The other thing I use is plastic tubs. I wrap the trains in bubble wrap, thin closed-cell foam, or whatever. This particular box is made by Sterilite. I like this brand because the boxes have good latches and handles and stack well, but they are a bit oversize for their capacity. There are plenty of other choices. 

 

 

One more - here's a special box I made up for the Standard Gauge Super 381 tinplate locomotive. I picked out a cardboard box that was slightly oversized and blocked the unit in place with leftover pieces of 2x4. The blocking prevents the (extremely heavy) locomotive from sliding into the ends of the box, which would crush the old-style couplers.

 

an old hard suitcase works well and will fit a whole consist. I wrap each piece and place them tightly together with bubble wrap and foam taking up the extra space. never had any damage.

 

Back when I was doing train shows, I had a rather low budget method, cost $0. I was able to get some nice produce boxes, with handles and lids or flaps, at the grocery store. Then I used the flats that 24 cans of pop came packed on (and yes, it's pop, not soda) as trays.

 

I would wrap every alternate car in a sheet of newspaper to keep them from rubbing and place them in the trays. Stack 3 trays to the crate, stack the crates on the 2 wheeler or my wagon, and I was off to the races.

Big boy has foam all other cars and engines in tub bins wrapped in puppy pads

Thanks to all those who responded and gave me several ideas to think about on how to carry my trains long term.

 

I went ahead and used bubble wrap that I already had on me this afternoon to pack the trains in a bin.

 

Here is a photo of my Metro North M7 whizzing past me at the club layout today.  

 

 

I'll be posting a question about the Lionel M7's in a future thread.

most of us at the sd 3r's wrap our equipment in puppy piddle pads and put them in plastic boxes your get at target. the engines go in a tool box wrapped the same way.

 

saw some picture above with bubble wrap, imo, not a good idea as it will trap moisture which will cause rust, with the piddle pads moisture is absorbed so no rust.  been doing this for years with no rust.

The pet pads are a good idea. A buddy of mine uses adult diapers (Depends or whatever) to wrap trains. However, here in Southern Arizona, trapped humidity is not an issue. 

Kevin,

Your M7 is really moving!  looks like the bubble wrap did well.  thanks for posting!

You have excellent taste in rolling stock! 

 

Here's a recent post I did about my Metro North M7s, showing the motor unit dismantled...

 

https://ogrforum.com/t...05#42539259588458105

 

Mitch

Kevin

Ive been using plastic totes with bubble wrap for years. I discard my boxes for all rolling stock so there are containerized for transport and storage.

 

BTW

What is your club name?

Steve 

One minor caveat with bubble wrap:  DON'T use it for freshly painted rolling stock!  I've had to redo paint jobs because the bubbles stuck to the paint, leaving marks...

 

Depending on your climate and humidity, it may be two weeks or more before bubble wrap is safe for paint. 

 

Non-static sheet foam, puppy pads and the like are better for delicate paint.  

 

Mitch

Do not use bubble wrap for long term storage of your trains, I have seen it leave it's fingerprints in the paint of MTH locomotives. Probably a chemical thing similar to the way artificial fishing worms can melt into the plastic of some tackle boxes. For long term storage, at least put a couple of layers of white wrapping tissue between the model and the bubble wrap. That also goes for storing trains in boxes with soft spongy foam, as well.

 

Bill in FtL

 

 

Mitch, great work.  I'm going to be posting a question on the M7's (on a separate thread) once I get around to it, so I'm sure that you'll be able to be opine.

 

 

Steve, my club name is the Florida Citrus Model Train Society (www.fcmts.org) and its in Broward County (Fort Lauderdale area), Florida.

I'm using suitcases from a second hand store.  I use bubble wrap or towels around alternating pieces.   Works great and easy to carry.

From a local company (Denver, CO).

 

https://bsthobbies.com/train-box-model-train-storage

 

 

 

The rolling stock travels in the original boxes inside a large shipping box. Keeps me from bringing too much stuff. Selected locomotives travel in their own boxes separately as their boxes don't really lend themselves to being placed in other shipping boxes with the rolling stock. I also use a cart to tote everything.

The point about not using bubble wrap for long term storage or freshly painted items is important. You can wrap the item in acid free tissue paper and then pad it with bubble wrap to prevent the bubbles from printing on the finish. Freshly painted items should be left out for at least several weeks before being packed away with anything in contact with the painted surface. I use a lot of bubble wrap because I have a lot of it, but I only use it for items that are going to be commuting to the club/museum. 

Plastic containers and wrap in towels

I use these:

 

This is the engine box, and the car box is twice as high. Each divider is foam lined so you can sit your equipment upright, and its protected on all sides by the foam. It's very quick to unload and load your stuff using these boxes.

 

The people I bought these from are no longer around but I think I'm going to have some made.

 

The engine box will hold 2 scale sized Big Boys, and the car box holds 6 - 21" passenger cars or 12 - 50' scale box cars. 2 car boxes and 1 engine box gets my stuff to the club and takes 10 minutes to pack it all back up.

 

If you're interested in getting some of these email me directly. Email is in my profile. 

You put two scale Big Boys in that box and pick it up, it would probably fold in the middle!

 

That's why the engine box is double walled, heavy duty  Your back might give out but the box will hold strong.

 

I put my VLBB and Cab Forward in there all the time.

I use cut up vellux blanket pieces to wrap my engines & rolling stock; and transport them in storage totes. Works great! I personally prefer this to bubble wrap. No worries about leaving them this way when I get home either. I usually take at least 5 engines, and 50+ cars to each show. Doing one at Henry Ford Museum this weekend.

Old school cloth diapers were the wraps of choice for my grandfathers gems.

The rest got the Detroit Free Press.

Some of my empty "random" cardboard boxes still have newspaper from the 60s-70s in them.

I use diapers and hand towels for most. I don't usually take rolling stock with me on visits. 

I did some train shows a few years ago and packed all the freight and passenger cars in their original boxes if I had them and then put them in cardboard boxes or plastic crates that I found. For the stuff without boxes I wrapped newspaper around them and put them on the top, always made sure each box could close and nothing was above the box line, in other word nothing sticking out. Some train shows I had to drive close to 45 miles for. 

I have not been selling at any train shows but have been to a couple of shows within the past year in southeast Florida. The one I like the best is in Deerfield Beech.

 

Lee fritz

Newspaper is not a good wrapping for trains. The ink can and will rub off on the trains. Look at your hands some time after you've been reading the paper. The newer soy-based inks aren't as bad as the old-fashioned inks but they still rub off. 

 

Newsprint, on the other hand, is fine. You can get packers' wrapping paper, which is basically the same as newsprint, from the Container Store or anywhere else that sells a good assortment of moving supplies. Newsprint is not acid free, so it's not the best for ultra-long-term storage, but it's fine for short and medium term storage.