Uhh in the season of giving im trying to be more positive. But I’m a little irritated that all of my engines and cars are falling apart. For example I bought the A-Line Tote system this past summer so that I wouldn’t have to keep carry bags and bags of my trains to my local railroad club. This year as I’m advancing in the hobby I’ve bought more engines and modern equipment since forever. I’ve bought several engines both DCC and DC and rolling stock to inlude, autoracks, modern hoppers, steel coil cars, a few reefers, and matching caboose just for the sake of it.
Well I’ve been noticing for a few months now, every time I get to the club and begin to take my equipment out to run on the club layout that something is either missing or broken. Handrails are bent, brake wheels on the ends of cars missing, couplers broken especially non-Kadee ones equipped from the factory with Mchenry or Bachmann style, etc. What broke the straw though was last week I went to run my Athearn Genesis SD70ACE (UP Heritage Katy) and one of the ditch lights was so bent it was ready to fall off…hangin on barely.
Are we at a point where we want to much from manufactures that the more detail a engine has the more fragile it is and only should really be a shelf-display type of item or??? I tried to be very careful every time I handled my engines more than anything. Even on the steel coil cars, a week after i bought them the tips or steel cables of the cars broke off and I’ve heard that is the case with those cars.
I kept the original boxes for my engines but ditto for the rolling stock all except the Kato metra cars.
What’s a guy to do? I rather just have a nice engine that runs with sound…not sure if I want all the details(very small lettering, every part etched, etc) drives up the price anyway and becomes hard to handle.
What’s a guy to do? From your description, it would appear that you should be more careful. I don’t see how you can think the system’s design caused end damage to your equipment–it doesn’t even touch the walls.
I’ve been using these for years, and am amazed that I’ve had NO damage.
One way I’ve been able to pull this off is to NEVER (or, hardly ever) load equipment by dropping it in the box. I lower it down in a cradle made out of that thin foam that A-Line sells. Or, lately, I just use a paper towel. And that is how I remove equipment, too. Besides acting like a cradle, the “stuff” kinda cushions the sides.
Also, as necessary, I put foam blocks (also available from A-Line) between each piece. Lately, I’ve found that the leftover paper towel at the ends kinda crunches up to form that cushion all by itself.
Also, when I carry the boxes, I’m very careful with them. Like there’s eggs inside. Very, very messy eggs!
I’ve gone to a number of Freemo meets with my equipment in these boxes–hundreds of miles away–never a problem.
I was kitbashing and detailing equipment long before the current trend toward RTR models, so I got used to transporting and handling my cars and locos in such a manner as to protect them. I also became adept at repairing and replacing items that were subject to damage. Thus, as more fragile and better detailed products became commercially available, I was already accustomed to them.
The original boxes often aren’t good for repeated transport, and there’s some acclimation involved in wrapping and cushioning delicate models - not everyone has the desire to put up with it. Some of us like the extra detail enough to tolerate the durability compromises, so I welcome the newer models. Of course, this means the market may be listening more to customers like me, and less to others.
A couple of years ago I switched TO the A-Line system, because the one I had before stored my models on their sides and was causing damage. Since I started using the A-Line totes - no further damage. You ARE setting things on their wheels, and using the foam sheets? I have a lot of Athearn, Bowser, and Accurail hoppers tha don’t have much fine detail, but I also have other cars such as Proto 2000 tank cars, Branchline Blueprint, P2K locos, and even a PCM steam loco that all go in the cases and have not had any problems with fine details being knocked off. Even have a wood kit with a mirror - the Minuteman Models i-Car tucked in my boxes. I have 4 boxes and the toate bag, all but the 4th box are completely full. It goes on the back seat of my car when I head to a club show.
Ends of cars should never touch - that’s what the little squares of foam are for. Even without the foam blocks, the foam cradles make the fit tight enough that they won;t roll inside the channels themselves, but I’m not takign that chance, every roaw has 2 foam blocks against the side wall, and then at least one foam block between each car and the next. Certainly NEVER had a coupler broken - I’ve had cars fall off of 48" high benchwork onto a cement floor and while many things broke, not once did a coupler - but I only use real Kadees. Definitely never had anything on the ends of my cars damaged in the A-Line totes. Sounds liek maybe you are just setting your rollign stock in th plain carboard boxes, without any of the foam materials? That will cause problems.
I bought the foam too but the problem with that is it moves and slides in the box. I put the long foam strips at the bottom of each row and then put the foam squares between each car. When I open the box the cars are all smashed up against the squares particularly the heavy locos from sliding in the box due to the foam under the wheels sliding. Another problem may be that I bought the high boxes which are for the superliner and autocarrier cars but most of the cars i have are small enough to fit in the regular size box so could be that the cars have too much room and space and thats why their not cushioned so well in the box. I need to take a picture of my box so you guys can see what it is im talking about.
The details become pretty fine when we reduce the prototype dimensions to 1/48, 1/64, 1/87.1, 1/160, or even finer. So there are a couple things we can do.
Settle for models that have oversized or missing details. That’s what we did in the clunky old days of moded-in roofwalks, ladders and grabs. Those cars were just about indestructible, and looked it.
Use stronger or more flexible material for the details. That probably means a more expensive model, or more time and effort expended in redetailing commercial models.
Be more careful when we handle, pack, and transport the models.
I can’t think of any other options, but I’m ready to listen to other ideas.
I have the regular height ones, mainly because I model the 50’s and have none of this high cars.
Also don’t put locos in the same row as cars. Yes, one of my 4 boxes is MUCH heavier than the others, because it has all my locos. I do put more than one loco in the same row, just not with any cars.
And keep the things level, or close to it. I lay mine across my back seat, side to side, so when I take it out of the car, or put it in, I don’t have to tilt it much.
Your problem, then, appears to be that you’re letting the boxes tilt too much as you transport them. This system needs you to keep thing pretty level. It will not work if you act like a DHL driver.
The problem is not likely to be attributable to the box height. You should not be handling them in such a way that they are jumping up high enough to hit the top of the box.
I, too, have the foam strips in the bottom. And the foam squares in between. Since we both have similar setups, and I don’t have problems, and you do, I expect the problem is how you are handling the boxes in transport.
I like option 4, leave the highly detailed models on the railroad at home and just travel with the clunkers. Keep the detailed models away from Joe Smash and Harry Crash at the club.
Not so fast…Some of those RTR cars and locomotives has fragile detail that will easily break off…
My solution is rather simple…I keep my higher detail cars and locomotives at home and use Athearn BB engines and cars along with some Walthers,Roundhouse and older Atlas cars at the club.
I been thinking about using the newer Bachmann locomotives instead of my faithful BB engines.
Are models today too detailed and fragile or A-Line Hobby Tote system not worth it???
Yes, some models are very fragile. You should be able to tell how well you must package them in the hobby tote, with some due diligence. I do not carry my models and I don’t have any A-Line Totes; so, I have no idea what type, if any cushioning, is provided with this product. Maybe a better idea is to not bring very fragile models to the club layout and leave them on your own layout and bring more robust models to the club.
Most seem to want all the fragile detailing, so we have made our bed, we need to lay in it now!
You are correct in your assumptions. I had originally said to myself that I should just take the Athearn BB stuff to the club but was being lazy and I paid the price for it. The older BB stuff is packed away in the garage and I didn’t feel like digging it out. All of the new RTR cars is very detailed and easily fragile. The steel coil cars are the absolute worst even with careful packing as I thought I had did. I had wrapped them in bubble wrap but to no avail pieces just started to break off soon after I bought it. As far as the tote system its only good if you have all 4 boxes in bag other than that the boxes move around. My club is in the basement so you have to go up and down stairs and that could have further contributed to the problem along.
I probably will go online and start buying the older BB cars for use. Even the older Athearn engines held up much better since they have the user installed metal handrails, gates, etc. They haven’t sustained a scratch.
I leave my fancy, finely detailed, high dollar rtr stuff at home; and take Athearn BB and old MDC to the club and modular setups. I use Barkley’s Better Boxes (a show vendor out of Houston) which work really well for my purposes.
Buy brass or change out the cheap plastic details with metal. The new RTRs are indeed fragile. I have detailed several cars and the end result was a lot more robust than what can be bought. This is because the details were metal. If it’s too fragile to move than maybe it’s too fragile period. Some are better than others, so I don’t put them all in the same category.
I still say your main problem is having the taller cases when you didn;t need them. Between the foam along the bottom of each channel, pls the piece of foam that cradles each car, not to mention th blocks one th ends, none of my cars moves around much.
Forgot to mention the most fragile car I have - Kadee covered hopper. How they mold and then assemble plastic pieces as small as the corner and end grabs on the roof walks I’ll never know. I broke one just getting it out of the original box when it was new. However, since I’ve been using the A-Line carrying case, nothing on that car has ever been damaged.
Things should be well packed in, too, not just a coupel of cars in each row. That also keeps them from moving. And similar cars should go together, so that you don;t have, say, a car that is a little wide in the middle of a couple smaller ones - the smaller oens will rattle around. I’d have to get them out to see how many I have in each row, but I did make a list and keep it in the top box which lists each box and how many of which cars go in each row. Partly so I avoid packing up and somehow not fitting everything back in - wait, they all came out of this many boxes, why can’t they go back in? and also to make sure everything is packed right to avoid damage. So far so good, I like the product. The older ones I had, cheaper, that I picked up at the Timonium show one year - thsoe are definitely only suitable for BB level of detail, because everythign lays on its side. Even then I’d probably not to even a BB loco in them - my Proto 2000 locos with plastic handrails, they didn;t break, but on the side that was always down, they ended up bent into the body, took a piece of foam spacer and a long time to ge tthem back the way they should be. Probably bend the metal stanchions on a BB loco even.
Todays cars are a lot less fragile than you think, that being said sometimes you have to replace parts. Modern RTR stuff has metal for grabs ussually but not necisarily if same item bought as kit. I have had a few hit the concrete once because I picked up a carry box I thought was empty, boy was I happy that there was very little damage and these were Tichy based, very detailed.
Fortunately, our club has more than enough engines and cars [:D]
I like Plano plastic boxes for transporting stock. I use doubled paper towels to lift them in and out, and closed-cell foam to buffer the ends. Open cell foam can snag details. The Plano boxes are kind of limiting if you have a lot of long cars and engines, but are very durable and easy to handle.
I am in the process of building an old Branchline Blueprint Series box car kit, and given the teeny tiny details- some of which get damaged just looking at them-, I become increasing fond of the highly durable (though less accurately detailed) Athearn BB kits and old RTRs. The storage of my modern RTRs, both diesels and rolling stock has become problematic.
Can’t use certain foam materials (such as styrofoam chips), as they are too stiff and can cause damage to delicate parts- and many of mine are in static storage, to be rotated out for use only on a quarterly basis on the layout.
My best solution has been a simple one- wrap each car in three full sheets of Bounty paper towels in a diagonal manner, then fold the ends together over the rolled item and secure with masking tape. This seems to stabilize the car within a protective “shell” that provides end protection on each model. I store 25-40 in one of those plastic file-folder type hinged file boxes (Sterilite) I buy at Wal-Mart. If I need to transport them, holding th box by the carrying handle minimizes any movement, so long as I have nested and packed each model well.
