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How do you store your locos, wagons and coaches?


Castle-Man

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So planning is going well and most parts ordered or in possession ready to build the new layout.  As mentioned this will most likely be kept against a wall and put on the dining table every time I use it.  However someone just raised an issue that made me think.  That is where am I going to store my trains and rolling stock.  At the moment they are in their packaging.  But I realise that taking them in and out is a receipe for things getting damaged.  Also some of the things that I will be adding will not have it's original box.

My initial plan is probably 1-2 Tank small locos a larger County Class with tender and a selection of goods trucks, 4 wheel short coaches and full length carriages.  All in GWR livery.

So How do people store theirs.  Space is at a premium and anything like a box they are kept in may then need moving around.  Apart from some sort of cupboard with rails fitted to the shelves it is difficult to think of a good solution.  So what do other members do?  I can't imagine that everyone leaves their rolling stock permenently out on their track.

 

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Castle man, hi, More shelves than you can throw a stick at. I like everything on display, at all times. Lidl glass cabinet. And, yes, i do leave about 22 locos out, at a time, plus coaches, and wagons. The last thing i would want to do, is to spend 40 mins, unpacking/ setting up. I can walk upstairs, turn on power, and run, within seconds. I appreciate, you have a storage problem, but i think you will become bored/ fed up, very quickly, if you have to spend ages, setting up. You will start to find reasons why you wont bother. john

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I have my stock out of the boxes but sitting in drawers in an Ikea mini-filing cabinet type thing.

If I need to swap stuff out on track then what comes off the layout goes into the drawers in place of what went on the track.

Rob

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All the normal stuff lives on the track, mostly! (Until the cat decides to kill them all!)

Limited editions that I collect live in their boxes, as they very rarely come out to play.

What Castle-man could do is raid the local B+Q etc, and collect up some tea-trays, preferrably wood, and store his loco's and stock on them. Gardening fleece over the top will keep the worst of the dust off, but watch for it snagging on small parts.

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To begin with, I stored wagons and coaches in partitioned A4 file boxes (the partitions being made from corrigated cardboard).  As the collection grew I obtained some desktop file draws from Staples which I lined with card to prevent scuffs as they proved too shallow for the coaches and vans to stand upright.  Locos, apart from some of the smaller types, are kept in their original packaging when not out on the layout.

Link to some of the storage photos.

http://s75.photobucket.com/user/ukgeoff/library/Stock%20storage 

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Thanks for the good ideas.  A couple of other things that I have looked at include Gratnells Smart Cases with foam inserts.  They also have customisable Storage for model railways but that looks more of an outlay.  http://www.gratnells.com/

The other thing was Warley Stock Boxes from Modellers Mecca.  http://www.modellers-mecca.co.uk/accessories/8261-wsboo-warley-stock-box-oo-gauge.html

Has anyone used either of these? 

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Hi Castle-Man. The Warley Stock Boxes look like a practical solution if you are very short of space. Not too expensive either. Being able to label contents also very useful.

If you have a spare chest of drawers or tallboy you could make up cartridge paper dividers for you locos and rolling stock similar to GeoFF's suggestion. I have done this as well as having a bunch of coaches visible on 2 -inch wide shelves on the wall behind the layout. I will post some photos.

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For my locomotives and wagons, I unboxed them frok there original boxes and store those in the attic, to stop them a getting damaged.

 

For my locomotives, I store them in the colourful range of boxes made by CMC.

 

For my rolling stock, I store them in throw-away cardboard boxes that has x500 pieces of A4 paper in. My dad works at printers, so he takes some home every-so-often. Stops a few getting thrown away and gives them some other use!

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 For rolling stock I use the cardboard trays that used to carry 12 tins (Catfood, Baked Beans etc.) at Supermarkets, and then put these inside the large cardboard fruit trays that Tescos heap up by the windows behind the cash desks. Unboxed stuff fits nicely in these.

 

For EMUs and locos I use those lock top boxes made by Really Useful Boxes, not cheap but very durable, as long as you don't drop them on concrete!!

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Personally I think that bodging things from cardboard boxes is a false, and unwise, economy. It's all very well until you do drop them or they get knocked off and those expensive models get damaged! Cardboard - of course - also degrades and then disintegrates very rapidly if there is any moisture in the atmosphere. Another factor is that there are so many fine details on modern models that storing them in cardboard is a recipe for all those detailed parts to be knocked off with a slight movement.

 

Model railways aren't cheap any more. It's like buying an expensive guitar and then keeping it in a cheap, flimsy gig bag. Accidents happen - it gets dropped and then you spend the next few months kicking yourself, facing a hefty repair bill and going "If only I had stored it in something more durable."

 

I keep my steam locos in their original boxes/inserts, while diesels, carriages and wagons live in these https://www.krmulticase.com/railways.  Not the cheapest solution but, like insurance, you're buying peace of mind as well as the physical container. Multiple KR Multicase trays can be stored in the company's waterproof or aluminium cases for maximum protection. (No connection with the company, just a satisfied customer).

 

PS I'm yet to see a used pizza box that doesn't have a greasy residue on the bottom. Can't think that would do expensive toy trains a great deal of good!

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 Most of mione are stored on four long shelves (two on each side of the railwey room. each shelf is made from three floorboards, two locked together with the third on top at the back to create a terrace. unfortunately I still have a lot of stock in deep plastic drawers with cardboard separating about 3 layers of coaches but I need to get something more suitable.

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As R1A has done I recently bought three sets of KR Multicases for my N-gauge collection to store and protect them when I take parts of it to other layouts. I also figured this would be the easiest way to limit the number of acquisitions! Also I do have a display case to rotate trains through so that I can enjoy them when not running.

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Hello. The local pizza boxes do not have any left over cheese on them the pizza is on a piece of corregated card under  them. If there was over 40 years as a printer has told me how to get if off. I have a large collection of trains, have been using these boxes for more than 25 years stacked upto 8 deep at the moment, They are labeled and piled acording to use. There are about 40 at the moment. Most of little used items are at bottom so not disturbed much. There other boxes sizes I use for other trains and items.

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If the loco's are not in use they are kept in their original boxes - safest place?

A tip for getting things out of boxes without damaging the boxes.

1. Do not use just your fingers. This will invariably tear the end flap. A torn box is of no value so you may as well rip the end flap off to make it easier next time.

2. Slip a ruler (plastic or metal) under the flap and ease the flap open using it. This will keep your boxes in perfect condition for the eventual day when your kids flog them on fleabay to recoup their inheritance.

Rob

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Hi. I have always found pizza boxes do the trick. You can cut 2'' wide strips of card for dividers if you want. They can be stacked without crushing. Not to mention you get a pizza for your troubles.

 

But I find that pizza boxes are have a load grease inside, which has stained the cardboard. I wouldn't store my locomotives and wagons in them! Not unless, I have a Pizza Express Train (Which I don't), then it wouldn't matter of them smelling of pizza!  😆

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Photos, as mentioned in my earlier post. The green cartridge paper insert was a bit laborious to fold but was done using my 2ft metal spirit level which was the right width and depth.

So quite a lot of my stuff on display, which I enjoy./media/tinymce_upload/e15424efc80810b057317595b52cc34e.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/f941ec1bc4fca3d87ac8a21b3312830d.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/68a5cfe6e666e374badf8e8f4b0fecf1.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/2932a8568c3684698c9fcb349389eb92.JPG

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PS I'm yet to see a used pizza box that doesn't have a greasy residue on the bottom. Can't think that would do expensive toy trains a great deal of good!

 

That's exacty what I have been thinking. I I have never found a pizza box that hasn't got a greasy residue, on the bottom. Pizza Hut, Domino's Pizza and Papa John's Pizza boxes all have greasy residue on the bottom, after a pizza has been inside, so I can't see it being an answer!  😀 😆

 

I do find it very strange though that when mytrainz wants a box, he orders a pizza!

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