Newspaper plastic bags to protect cars from foam inserts?

Marty R posted:

Through the years I’ve discarded many of the plastic bags my MTH rolling stock came with. Then I rend recently that chemicals in styrofoam eventually affect paint ;-/

It’s easy enough for me to replace the bags with newspaper bags. Does anyone have experience that says “don’t do that! That plastic is worse”

 

Just my opinion but, I would NEVER allow any plastic to come in direct contact with the paint finish of ANY model train. I wrapped them in tissue paper first. 

Hot Water posted:

Marty R posted:

Through the years I’ve discarded many of the plastic bags my MTH rolling stock came with. Then I rend recently that chemicals in styrofoam eventually affect paint ;-/

It’s easy enough for me to replace the bags with newspaper bags. Does anyone have experience that says “don’t do that! That plastic is worse”

 

Just my opinion but, I would NEVER allow any plastic to come in direct contact with the paint finish of ANY model train. I wrapped them in tissue paper first. 

Completely agree.  Loosely wrapped in some tissue or other safe paper product.

No plastic at all makes no sense. Every Lionel RMT and menards piece comes in a plastic clamshell. MTH and Altas seem to come in styrofoam that usually has a bag around the car. Paper always dries out and crumbles away, eventually. I suppose in the 20 or so years, give or take, I hope to enjoy these, not much is going to affect things. 

A. Not all plastic bags are made from the same formula.

B.  It is always your choice to do what you want with your toys.

C. Does it make economic sense to wrap an expensive piece in a free bag as opposed to a piece of paper which probably costs less than two cents?

John in Illinois

We use tissue, even inside the factory bag. 

rattler21 posted:

A. Not all plastic bags are made from the same formula.

And you have no idea what the shipping ones are made of either - all that shipping stuff (Styrofoam, etc.) is also probably not intended for long-term storage use either.

C. Does it make economic sense to wrap an expensive piece in a free bag as opposed to a piece of paper which probably costs less than two cents?

I use 3+ layers of what might be considered a very heavy industrial paper towel that both cushions and protects.  If the item needs more protect, then it's the fine bubble wrap.

I bought a bunch of acid-free paper from Amazon that I wrap with first, then with plastic.  I don't use bags, but rather a cut piece of plastic, stuffing the items in bags is a PITA at times.

Yes, don't trust your collection to bags of unknown composition, especially "free" ones that you find in the front yard enclosing your newspaper. Heck, I would suspect that the disposable newspaper bags are designed to degrade - they should be.

Paper will indeed "crumble after 20 years" - if it is the wrong paper. Acid-free paper (mentioned immediately above) will outlast most of us. 

Marty R posted:

Through the years I’ve discarded many of the plastic bags my MTH rolling stock came with. Then I rend recently that chemicals in styrofoam eventually affect paint ;-/

It’s easy enough for me to replace the bags with newspaper bags. Does anyone have experience that says “don’t do that! That plastic is worse”

 

Did the article say how long it takes for the styrofoam to affect the paint?

Usually I see grease or paint from engines without plastic bags on the styrofoam. 

My biggest concern would be moisture condensation inside the bag in high humidity areas or from rapid temp changes.  Some bags have holes punched in them to help prevent that.

I've seen multiple engines with Styrofoam stuck to them when they're not wrapped before packing them.  I don't use bags, so there is plenty of "holes" at the ends of my sheet of paper and plastic.

Thanks! Food for thought. 

I tend to wrap trains in wax paper if there is no factory wrapping.  No issues after many years of doing this.  If anyone thinks that this could pose a problem tell my why.

I usually leave trains wrapped in whatever the manufacturer uses.

Alan

If it got warm, I suspect it could leave marks.  How about parchment paper?  That stuff is pretty bulletproof.

Wife and I raised 5 kids-3 boys, 2 girls. Two of the boys had newspaper routes so I helped with stuffing lots of papers into these bags. When the boys were done with delivering papers, they still had lots ( and lots) of these bags unused and the news paper company did not want them back. So I started using them (cautiously at first) to put my trains in to keep their paint safe from the box Styrofoam/cardboard/whatever. Have been doing this now for 40 years-without a problem that I can detect. 

I agree with turtle7. When we left Fl in 1987 I slipped all my stuff in the plastic newspaper backs and they stayed packed up for several years and I had no issues with any piece. This last move I wrapped each piece with tissue paper and then acid free butter paper and so far I have had no issues with what I have so far unpacked and it has been three years now since we moved and at least 75% of my stuff is still packed away.

I prefer acid free paper and if needed wrap bubble wrap around them and keep the ends open as I do not want to seal in any moisture. I have seen many trains from the seventies and eighties packed in white foam and you can see the paint on the foam. I assume this is some type of chemical reaction. The worst is old spongy foam that was used to pack old brass models. I have seen an otherwise gorgeous model's paint job destroyed by this.

Miketg

gunrunnerjohn posted:

If it got warm, I suspect it could leave marks.  How about parchment paper?  That stuff is pretty bulletproof.

I never thought about heat and the wax paper.  That's probably due to the fact that here in the coastal part of the Pacific Northwest it hardly ever gets above 90 degrees.

But, you have a good point.

Alan

If they're in an attic it might get a lot hotter.

Be CAREFUL with "bubble wrap" on painted surfaces! I once received a new MTH traditional 408E which had the wrap marks on the cab roof! Fortunately, I was able to buff them out with an auto scratch remover and a microfiber cloth! Use caution with any plastic wrap!