Transport to/from Club Layouts

How about a good, substantial duffle bag.  You could make some bubble wrap bags for each piece and tote them around pretty easily.

Thanks for the suggestion, Bob, but thats a complexity I don't want. Right now I use a copier paper box and wrap the trains with a towel. Well, more of an up and over each piece. It gets complicated depending on the value of each piece. 

Ive  already damaged a few couplers and therefore want something along the lines of positive space. 

Our club layout is open to the public, so taking up an aisle with bubble wrap etc for even a few minutes during mid day shift changes is something I'd like to avoid hence my desire for something I can load two articles at a time and close it up. 

I keep everything in the original packaging. If it can survive a UPS/USPS trip across country, it can survive a trip to the club. I'll take the feright cars and put several of them in a large cardboard box for transport.

I use plastic boxes or tubs that I get at Target for six or seven bucks. I don't know the actual dimensions but they are big enough for a three-unit diesel or three 18" passenger cars the long way, or six regular size freight cars the short way. The trains are wrapped in bubble wrap. I also sometimes use cardboard boxes that I've saved from stuff that was shipped to me, especially for long items. 

I also take quite a few things in their original boxes, because that's how a lot of my collection is stored. 

For smaller engines I use the smaller tubs and wrap the loco's in a tea towel (cushions and wicks away any oil/grease) that can be thrown in the washer when needed.

For the larger ones, steamers, tool boxes work great. Again wraped in a tea towel for padding, some of our club members not only use them for transport but also for storage. Determine an optimum size which is stackable. 

 piece of roll around luggage and some bubble wrap

I keep the engines in their original boxes. All rolling stock is bubble wrapped and placed into the plastic storage containers. The beauty is I can get a long consist up and running in minutes. Likewise it takes minutes to breakdown and minimizes the under layout storage

Steve

Try these people http://www.bcwsupplies.com/type/cardboard-boxes

They make all sorts of storage cartons, many for trading cards. They are ideal for storing and transporting locomotives & rolling stock They also offer foam inserts to keep everything in place.

My personal recommendation is their super shoe storage box (3000 Ct). It will hold 3 items, is deep enough for higher items and 2 or 3 will fit into a plastic storage bin.

Here are photos of two boxes I use for transporting 0 gauge trains to and from our toy train museum operating sessions, plus another one I set up for a specific Standard Gauge locomotive.

This is a Sterilite box I got at Target. As you can see it will hold six 40-50 foot freight cars. If the cars are 40-footers or less, you can get an extra car in on the side as I have done with covered hoppers in this photo. There is enough headroom that you could put gondolas or flatcars on top, or there might be enough room for two layers with the cars laid on their sides. I wouldn't do that with scale cars but it would be fine with 6464 boxcars or something like that.  I like these because they have latches on the lids, they stack well and will stay stacked in the back of a pickup, and they have lots of grab space at the ends. Overall size is about 24x18 and usable interior space is about 19x15. If I remember correctly they cost six or seven dollars, less if you get them on sale. 

 I got these boxes at York, and then a few more later direct from the seller in California. Uppa Valley Lines doesn't have a web site, but I'm pretty sure they are still in business. You can phone them to order. They also have extra dividers if you want to reconfigure the interior. I don't remember exactly how much the boxes cost; I think it was around 15 bucks per box. They are nice for storing and transporting standard size cars and they are super easy to get the cars in and out of. I store a couple of dozen Weaver cars in them so they are ready to go at any time. 

This is how I transport a Standard Gauge Super 381 to and from the museum, and I also store the locomotive in this box at home. The original box for a Super 381 is a monstrous thing, with a metal cage that you bolt the unit into and then put the cage in a styrofoam enclosure, then the actual box. It takes at least 15 minutes to get it in or out of the box. So, I found a heavy cardboard box that fit the Super, then used some leftover wood blocks to hold it in place so it wouldn't move around. For this particular unit that works better than bubble wrap or other soft padding. The setup is very secure and it gets the Super around town without damage.

Richard:  I searched, but could not find anything about the foam inserts. I like this idea, though. This is closest to what I was picturing in my mind. 

I have boxes that I fold up and tape up to use each time they are just the right size for various passenger cars, freight or locos depending on what it is I am hauling and size I need.

By knocking boxes down each time they do not take up room put cars back on layout or display shelves.

I pull all the old towels dish towels and pillow cases out of the closet and wrap them over and between anything I put in the boxes to prevent scratching.

Make sure do not put any under the wheels or can get dirt grease on them.

How about a special trailer to haul your stuff in!

Here is our club trailer display all fits inside for shows.

when I joined the Ocean County club I noticed members coming to the club with luggage, were they taking a train ride. turns out these hard type pieces of luggage were filed with trains.  no boxes required, just some bubble wrap and foam blocks. in a large luggage you could fit 20 cars. every thing is fit in snug with the foam so it is almost like factory packing, no damage during transport. remember to pack your heavy stuff at the bottom for the luggage so it stands up easily. with wheels it is easy ho drag and if you have to, you can carry it by the handle with 1 hand. easy to get through doors and stores under the layout in a small footprint compared to any kind of box. and the best part is you can find them easily at yard sales for pennies.

Carl, I have three different carrying cases that I had made for club use but no longer need. I am willing to sell them and if you are interested I can email you some pictures. Send me an email at brendankglynch@gmail.com

Train Transport Boxes from BST Hobbies

I have purchased a few O scale cases on da bay. Some of them will hold a complete train. the plastic case is a under bed storage case. When I was a member of the BCMRR Club, I got a ribbin for bringing in OEM boxes with trains and taking too long to set up. That only happened ONCE!

Here's the BCW Super Shoe Box that Richard mentioned:

http://www.bcwsupplies.com/1-BX-SSHOE

All of our boxes:

http://www.bcwsupplies.com/cat...d/trading-card-boxes

Foam pads:

http://www.bcwsupplies.com/1-MPAD

Thanks, Ted, but I was looking more for the thinner foam pads to rest against the side and bottoms of the cars, not pieces for the ends of the box. Of course, I can see how they could come in handy to protect the couplers.

I run mostly traditional sized stuff, so what I use may not be large enough for your items. I use a stationary cart, which is a six drawer cart that holds a ream of paper in each drawer. They will also  hold 3 6464 sized boxcars, or 3 baby Madison passenger cars, or quite a few other sized cars in each drawer. They are on castors, so they will roll on hard surfaces. I bought mine at Office Max or one of their competitors for around $30.

I typically will put one engine and tender and a caboose in the bottom drawer and 3 boxcars in each of the other five drawers. While they are in the truck, I use a bungee cord across the drawers to keep them closed.

J White

cars in plastic tubs like above.

but for engines one or two in its own tool box. complete with smoke, manuals and caboose. and provides a space for some tools.

Carl, I think you're going to have to cut your own foam and slip it into whatever type of box you eventually choose.  Hobby Lobby has foam of varying thickness.  There isn't any one-size-fits-all solution due to varying lengths of engines and cars

I have some of the two-tier cardboard carriers with slots that hold up to 18 short cars, but they were $35 apiece.

I don't recommend bubble wrap for detailed equipment.  It snags details sometimes and it can leave marks on the paint under certain circumstances.  I save the thin foam like Sunset/3rd Rail uses every time I buy something that's packed in it, as it makes a good protective wrap.  You can buy a whole roll of it at Fed-Ex.

.

One caution on using bubble wrap and perhaps foam.  All of the wheels of our trains pick up oil, grease and smoke fluid crud from the rails which transfers to the bubble wrap when we wrap them up.  Next time you use that wrap you may be transferring the black grime onto the car you're wrapping.  This can become very difficult to near impossible to get off later, particularly if later is a long time or the storage has been warm/hot.  To avoid this, I might suggest using some colored vinyl tape on the bubble wrap to indicate a "bottom" area for consistency when wrapping your trains.   When the taped area becomes heavily greased, it's time to wipe it down for a quick cleaning with paper towels.

I have thought about the small hardside suitcases or large briefcases that can found in many places used for a few bucks with the soft foam inside. Good exterior protection and handles and locks. They can be painted, so don't pass on the yuck green.

Has anyone tried this?

Carl, I'm also one to say, NEVER, NEVER allow bubble wrap to come in contact with your precious locomotives or rolling stock. Wrap each piece in acid free tissue paper. You can buy this tissue paper in the gift wrap section at Hobby Lobby. Then use your bobble wrap.

After much experimenting, I have settled on using rolling tool boxes from the hardware store.  These are the kind with wheels.  They will hold a complete train including the engines.

I wrap all of the equipment in either white hand or face towels depending on the equipment size.  I get the towels at Costco.  I wash the towels if they become greasy.

This has proved to be the best and easiest method I have found to store and transport trains.

The original train packing material stays at home.

Joe 

Carl :

Try this Address for the foam inserts.

http://www.bcwsupplies.com/typ...ard-box-monster-pads

There is a vendor selling these cartons individually at western New York train shows

*sigh*

Well, after agonizing (not really) over which box to purchase, I bought one from BST Hobbies.

Evidently I don't know what I'm doing, because if I stack the cars on their sides, the dividers are compressed enough I can only use 3 of the 4 rows. If I stack the cars wheels first, then the locos stick up too tall for the box lid.

Does anyone actually use these, and if so, is there some trick or method that has so far eluded me?

Please see the pics. It's not like I'm trying to load full-scale items in here.