Replacement boxes for 0-27 trains

I think these are the best for cars that don't have or come with boxes when you buy them. An alternative would be to try to find a used box, specifically for your particular car, or a similar car.  But, these are usually expensive when you can find them.  And, mostly, they don't offer too much protection.  I think you have found the best alternative.  Thee folks ae the ones I buy my boxes from too.  Bob S.

I have some in a plastic storage box, upper right shows 3 cars in an old shoe box, heh.

The box will hold ten car boxes.

if you want original Lionel type replacement boxes try East Coast Trains, they have almost all of the boxes and the inserts.

Eilif,

Your choice is the one I've used for many years for prewar O-Gauge pieces. There are others out there. If you want reproduction Lionel boxes they are also available. I'm sure someone will chime in with a answer.

The one thing I do recommend is NOT to use bubble wrap next to the painted surfaces. If you can find it Acid Free tissue wrap is the best. Then use bubble wrap if you want to fill the voids.

I have purchased boxes from Uline, Hobby Surplus Sales, and BCW. 

I use the trading card boxes.  For multiple cars like my pile of RMT ore cars, I use the multi-cell trading card boxes, I can put fifteen hoppers into one of them.

Uline is a great source for storage boxes. They make a 200# box 8"x12"x28" that is perfect for Orange locomotive boxes (except for longer articulated ones for which they have VL Big Boy sized 9"x16"x31" I think). If Lionel used these instead of the paper thin shippers they use there would be fewer damaged boxes/locos I bet.

If you buy direct from BCW, they have much better prices than most of the places that sell their boxes.

Trading Card Boxes at BCW

If you make the order large enough, they even have free shipping.

The 17" box costs less than a buck if you buy ten of them.

One of my favorites for a bunch of similar cars is the 5000 card box, you can put a bunch of stuff in this one.

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

These are about four feet long and each will fit between 15-20 cars, depending on how large.  I put an old towel in the bottom for protection.  It's the perfect balance of storage and accessibility, from my perspective.

EDIT:  Sorry, I see the topic was specifically about BOXES, I didn't follow directions well there. 

Thanks folks,

The larger uline boxes look good too, but I'm looking for a solution that takes up even less space.

GRJ,

Good to know about buying direct,  The discount comic/card store near me is  ridiculously cheap, but  I might end up going direct.

Pappy,

     I'll remember that.  I've got alot of rags and old towels, so I may use them instead of bubble wrap.

quote:

I've used the 650, 800 and 1000 card boxes for 0-27 engines and stock cars and they fit nicely with room for at least a layer of thin bubble wrap for the larger pieces.  I don't know how they'd work for all cars, but the interior sizes are listed.  There are also some boxes with more than one slot.

To repeat what Happy Pappy wrote about using bubble wrap, perhaps with stronger words:

Bubble wrap is known to permanently damage the finish of "O" gauge trains.

It certainly should not be in direct contact with any of your trains. I don't use it at all.

I use Dog Pads and plastic containers to store all my cars, locos, and Snow clearing equipment. Any of the items I have boxes for they either stay in the rafters of my garage or the boxes for my TMCC/Legacy, and DCS engines stay in the cabinet above the closet where all my boxes of trains sit. I only put 4 cars in the boxes still because they are really fragile cars.

For lightweight 0-27 or similar "traditional" type cars, I figured out how to make my own clones of Lionel rolling stock boxes, complete with the window. A rather detailed post I made detailing their construction is in my signature below. currently missing as if I never made it .

But those are only for lightweight cars--anything heavier than a Beep I go with the BCW boxes as detailed above.

---PCJ

At this point in time you have purchased the boxes and acid free paper. Go ahead, splurge and buy a little bubble wrap. You deserve it!

After consulting my photo archive and reviewing all the posts I made during the timeframe (June 2014), I've concluded that my post with the MPC box clones has vanished, as well as the photos...and the link to the post that used to be in my signature 

But for the sake of completeness, here are some of the photos from that thread, of some the MPC-style boxes I crafted. Captions reference the photo above them:

I acquired a number of postwar items in an estate sale. Needing boxes for them, I found an old template for an MPC auto carrier and set about defining the key dimensions that could be modified to produce templates for boxes sized for a variety of traditional-sized rolling stock. Above is a cut out template for a 6457 caboose made from a single sheet of poster board, before folding.

The completed box with a clear acetate window added.

I made a minor error in the dimensions of the first version of the 6457 box, but found the result was the right size for a Beep.  I wouldn't use these boxes for anything heavier than this unit, and even then I doubled up on the cardstock thickness on the bottom, top and back.

The poster board came from Staples. I've since found a thicker version called "railroad board" from an art supply retailer.

Completed "Beep" box with window. This unit is a Taylor-Made Trucks product that pre-dates the RMT Beep. Since the chassis and shell were sold separately, neither original box fit the assembled unit. This one now has a "home".

Double-stack box made for traditional-sized gondolas during test fitting prior to window insertion and hot-glue.

Completed gondola box. The top gondola is a Kusan unit.

As mentioned before, these boxes are really just for lightweight traditional rolling stock. I wouldn't use them for locomotives--for those I went with the same BCW card boxes mentioned in earlier posts. If anyone would like the template I crafted, I can provide a link to the full-size image--uploading it to the Forum shrinks it to a size that makes it difficult to read.

---PCJ

Those custom boxes are nice.  They look as good as the white boxes that come in MTH starter sets.  

I'm just looking for a storage solution so I think I'll stick with the card boxes, which it sounds like lots of other folks already use.

I looked at the boxes I have on hand:

BCW 800 count for many locomotives and long cars

BCW 300 count for parts / odds & ends

Uline 4 x 4 by 18 for pieces that are too wide or too long for the BCW boxes.

There is a lot of surplus space in the Uline boxes. Sometimes I shorten them, other times I just put some crumpled up paper in the ends. the 4 x 4 dimensions are generous. So stuff will float around in there. I wouldn't ship anything that way, but for home storage / hand transport to train shows and such, they are OK.

I also use "Large White Box" from Hobby Surplus Sales. They will hold common Postwar Lionel "O" gauge rolling stock comfortably.

Uline -  4x4x12" boxes by the 100 for most rolling stock; 4x4x16" for longer cars.

You can find sellers of smaller lots of these (25 or 50) on eBay.