I bought a couple of these 40 gal. Sterlite wheeled totes at Walmart a couple of weeks ago for ~$25 ea.
This works well for my 15" aluminum pax cars stored on end using baseball card boxes (the 930 count size) for each car; and using late LIONEL PW style boxes (those without an insert) for the F-3 units. Scale length would need to be stored horizontally, obviously.
Forget about using standard manufacturer's packaging for storage in a tote--they take up far too much volume.
These work great at my train club (and they are lockable with pad locks).