Keeping box car doors closed?

You could use a piece of dense foam pushing between the insides of the doors. Friction fit.

I glue a mini rare earth magnet on the inside door frame of the boxcar and also glue a very small metal washer or nut on the inside of the door so it lines up with the magnet when closed. If set up correctly the door closes and stays shut until I want to open it. Works very well for me and does not show from the outside of the boxcar. The magnet can also be glued flat on the door surface instead of what is shown in the photo. This particular boxcar above had a small door tab, so I attached the magnet differently.

I keep them close by taping them shut from the inside

Super glue always

Tape them shut from the inside with 2" masking tape across the door(s) onto both sides of the car.

I just leave them be, and just reach over to close them every once in a while so I have a mix of cars with doors at different opened states.

I just use the old finger and as they go by me close them............Paul

We use a dollop of rubber cement.  Holds well and easily removed if so desired.  John in Lansing, ILL

I can understand why you might want to keep the doors shut, but how are the hobos supposed to get around?

Alan

I've never been bothered by opening boxcar doors, aesthetically, but the tape idea sounds as good as any. Double-door auto carrier boxcars were the worst "offenders" for door opening, IMHO, because you end up with this gaping "hole" in the side of the car. 

Count me with the masking tape group. Silicone would also peel off if one needed too.

NJCJoe,  I like your foam suggestion.  A car load of foam would keep all doors closed and possibly deaden some of the sound.  Thank you, John in Lansing, ILL

rattler21 posted:

NJCJoe,  I like your foam suggestion.  A car load of foam would keep all doors closed and possibly deaden some of the sound.  Thank you, John in Lansing, ILL

I'm also liking this idea.

There's a packing material I see occasionally that's sort of like styrofoam - but made out of milk jug type plastic.

Flexible and spongy - just the right size chunks would do it.

Roving Sign, I'm sure you're referring to the modern type of Lionel box car, as the Virginian, pictured above. The 6464 type is an easy fix by putting some sort of thin rod in the bottom door guide track to keep the door closed. For me, I use small brass rods which I have a film canister full of.

Gluing or taping the door closed is not for me, as sometimes I want to open the door, as I have a fork lift that loads crates into box cars. I've tried several techniques including thinning the width of the upper door guide, which is a lot of work.

The technique that works best for me is removing the box car door and putting a dot of glue on the inside of the box car door - on the left side of the door looking at it is the box car. Or in other words, opposite of the side of door that opens.

The dab of glue when dry acts to prevent easy sliding open of the door via vibration of the train, yet allows the door to still be opened.

Another variation of this technique, is to glue a small piece of styrene inside the door in the same manner. The edge of the thin styrene again, keeps the door from vibrating open, yet is not thick enough to allow the door to be opened.

Another technique is to use electrical tape or some other colored tape to match the box car door, and to cut very thin strips to be adhered to the upper part of the door that goes inside the track. Again, you just want enough friction to keep the door from easily opening by running the train, yet not so difficult to open should you wish to.

The ONLY time I ever tape a door closed is on operating cars, like the walking brakeman car, or the opposite door of the spring-plunger "peek-a-boo" operating box cars.

I hate it when Boxcar Doors and Baggage Car Doors open. I either tape or hot glue from the inside or put a small drop of hot glue in the door track. 

A common wooden toothpick cut to size and dropped into the door track will do the trick

I do them like in the real world.Some are open and some are shut.And some are half way with a hobo inside keeping out of sight.

Use MINI-HOLD a wax adheshive for holding doll house figures...and it's easily removed.

Bob

There was another thread at one time.   Kleenex stuffed in the car held them closed and was easy to remove.  No residue or anything on the car also.

All my boxcar doors are glued shut. My understanding from how the ET&WMC built their boxcars is that the doors couldn’t be left open as they’d slide back and forth on their tracks in movement and eventually damage the car in some way. I’ve never seen any photos of one of their boxcar doors open while on the move.

I’d have liked to have modeled a coach end door open, but when I modified and painted my two AMS coaches, I found no realistic way to ‘open’ the door without destroying it. Same with my one caboose as in each case, the doors were not independent parts of the cars.

Tom McGriel posted:

A common wooden toothpick cut to size and dropped into the door track will do the trick

Sometimes the most obvious  solution to a problem is often overlooked.  Now what could be better than a toothpick in the track.

wild mary posted:

Tom McGriel posted:

A common wooden toothpick cut to size and dropped into the door track will do the trick

Sometimes the most obvious  solution to a problem is often overlooked.  Now what could be better than a toothpick in the track.

OK but, doesn't that show on the outside of the car, i.e. "something" laying in the door track? Maybe it's just me but, I would rather have something hidden INSIDE the car that keeps the doors closed, on those cars that I WANT the doors closed.

NJCJOE posted:

You could use a piece of dense foam pushing between the insides of the doors. Friction fit.

I agree with Joe.   I have used this for years.  No damage or alteration to the boxcar.  No problems.  The spongy type of foam stays in place between the doors with friction.

This is a reefer obviously but a box car is the same. While you're in there, bring the car up to proper weight

Who doesn't have masking tape laying around?

been about 10 years since i posted this last...

running a long string of Marx 6" tin boxcars, one side would consistently vibrate open.  a simple wooden matchstick placed in the door track solved that problem.

cheers...gary

overlandflyer posted:

been about 10 years since i posted this last...

cheers...gary

Yup, that's "scale looking" alright!

At the Chicago show in March I bought some paper sheets from Scale City that holds grain in a box car. glue one on the inside and no sweat about the door.

Dick

Hot Water posted:

overlandflyer posted:

been about 10 years since i posted this last...

cheers...gary

Yup, that's "scale looking" alright!

thought it was pretty obvious, but this is my fix for Marx 6" tin.
not necessary for my scale cars as they have working door latches.

cheers...gary

There are some good ideas here. I thought opening doors was neat when I was a kid. I really don't like opening doors now.

Trains were always around when I was a youngster.  I can still see the freights with long trails of boxcars:some doors were open to varying degrees and many closed.  When I run a train some boxcar doors are open and most are closed.  That works for me.

Norm

Don't have that problem with these old Oak tree box cars...

Ok - here's my entry - not sure what this material is called - but its a foamy, flexible plastic packing material.

Credit should go to whoever it was upthread who made this suggestion.

Just cut pieces a fraction bigger than the space and tilt/compress them a bit as you close the door.

I put two NH 6464s on a 3ft piece of Gargraves and shook the track a bit - without the foam, you could clearly hear the doors rattle - with the foam in place - silence!

Seems to do the trick - will test drive these later - see if they actually stay closed.

Roving Sign posted:

Ok - here's my entry - not sure what this material is called - but its a foamy, flexible plastic packing material.

Just cut pieces a fraction bigger than the space and tilt/compress them a bit as you close the door.

I put two NH 6464s on a 3ft piece of Gargraves and shook the track a bit - without the foam, you could clearly hear the doors rattle - with the foam in place - silence!

Seems to do the trick - will test drive these later - see if they actually stay closed.

That's a really good non-destructive trick!  Thanks for posting it.