Hello everybody, I was wondering what people do with the boxes in which their models come in. My situation is that it is time to downsize from two bedrooms to one and and storage space is limited. So there is a real urge to dispose of all the boxes, but just worried about the what if factor. So wondering what your experiences have been.
Ps: Just joined this forum it is a wealth of information, wish I had found it years ago.
Frank
I never toss my boxes, I have some empties for which I don’t even have the models that came in them. I use several empty larger boxes (like moving moxes, or something that size) to stash the empties in, then slip 'em under the layout.
Brad
Actually there is a market for some boxes for collectors items. Probably not for the blue boxes though. The only boxes I keep are for my engines. The cars can be kept in those travel boxes that somebody advertises in MR for. I forgot the seller. I made my own from a discarded refrigerator box. Holds about 10 HO passenger cars.
I just keep loco boxes. I use xerox (or similar) bulk paper boxes to store them in.
I also use xerox (or similar) type boxes to store cars. I use paper towels or bubble wrap for cushining and pieces of cardboard between layers.
I keep the boxes for the high end locos. Not sure why. Just the pack rat mentality. The boxes would be valuable if you ever want to resell the item on ebay. Having the original box is a plus. But since I can’t imagine reselling these anyway, I don’t know why I want to hang on to the boxes.
Hi Frank, welcome to the forums. [#welcome]
As far as storage goes, I prefer to keep my models in a box that is stronger and better padded than what they originally came in. I used to keep them in their original boxes, but I didn’t like the fact that the cars had to lay on their side in order to fit in the box. Sometimes I would find that some of the paint would come off and stick to the bottom of the box, so I opted to find something that lets me store them upright. My solution was to use some boxes I got from work and some foam I had left over. Here is what I came up with:
With this method, I can store my equipment upright and it prevents damage with all that padding inside. In this particular box, I have 16 50’ boxcars inside, 8 on the upper and 8 on the lower level. There is a thin foam layer (like the one barely visible at the top), cardboard cut to the size of the box, and another layer of thin foam in between the two “floors”. I still need to do the rest of my fleet, but to the ones I’ve already done, I end up throwing away the boxes that originally came with my models. The only ones I do keep are the ones for the locomotives and the ones that have “shaped” foam inside the box. The ones like Walthers’ and Athearns’ and the P2Ks I just throw away since they’re just plain boxes.
I keep them in thier boxes. The ones I dont use often are packed and inventoried in bigger boxes to reduce wear and tear.
The ones that are “Out” well, they are either on the workbench or are easily packed up and taken to another railroad.
Except for a (very) few locomotives (including my US prototype ‘nostalga’ locos - all five of them) my rolling stock is packed in layers of foam in file folder transport boxes. The vast majority of my freight cars are little galvanized steel items which originally cost me about half the price of the Kadee couplers they’ve been fitted with - the boxes for which joined the trash stream many years ago. Most of my more recent acquisitions have been kitbashed into things only the Master Mechanic of the Tomikawa Tani Tetsudo could love (for their efficiency, not their beauty!) Those boxes, too, have joined the trash stream.
I do have some as-yet-unbuilt kits in their original boxes, including brass steam and catenary motors. Once assembled, they won’t fit into the original boxes, so those boxes, too, will join the trash stream.
If the lack of original boxes causes problems for my personal representative when my estate is settled, so be it.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Having been in the hobby for over 40 years, and not having an operating layout for most of this time, all my models are in the orig. boxes (except for a few flea market/train show specials that had no boxes). This is mandatory for me for storage, but it also tells me what I have. I have 2 large boxes(2’x1 1/2’x1’) full of just box cars! Another kick is the prices!! I have Athern BB kits with $1.50 price tags, BB locos with $14.95 prices & building kits with $1.95 prices. How about Prieser figure boxes marked $1.95!! How about Lionel flat cars (all of this HO) with $.77 clearance tags!! AINT NOSTALGIA GREAT!![:D]
I remember buying 2.00 Athearn cars.
I have approx 30 of them still in the case (The old boxes were used as paint stands and then thrown away) but now with Kaydees and Metal wheels (Proto 33") that must cost more than these cars did retail.
I usually dont have a problem buying 14 dollar athearn cars today RTR but no where near as many. If they ever, ever re-release the old Reefers in the 40’ that will be something. (Sliding doors and brake wheel above the catwalk on one end.)
I keep my boxes in one corner of the room. And each box is marked and the contents kept in a small book which is also handy at the store when you think… hmm do I already own this road number? (It’s not my fault the manufactors only print two road numbers each)
I keep the majority of my boxes in one of the bedroom closets we don’t use.
I hang on to the boxes that locos or other fragile stuff came in in case I have to move or send them out for repair. I agree they take up a lot of space but better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them. I have Athern Blue Boxes and MDC boxes from over twenty years ago that I use for small tool caddies and parts storage.
I keep both empty and full boxes for freight cars on shelves beneath my staging yards. (These yards are stacked above one another, as the layout is a multi-level point-to-point.) When a car comes into the staging yard, it’s returned to its own box and a car card determines which car goes on the layout next. On the shelves, boxes are arranged with the ends visible (like in most hobby shops), and cars are sorted by roadname and car type, so they can be easily found.
Locomotives are kept in either modified or custom-made boxes, depending on which is more suitable to accomodate any modifications made to them. Passenger equipment and MoW equipment is stored in cardboard fruit and vegetable boxes (the kind with separate lids, such as are used for tomatoes or pears). I make stacking trays from cardboard, which protect the equipment from damage and keep it separate.
Wayne
I’ve kept all of my boxes so far(back in hobby X 1 year), but am ending up storing most of my locos in foam lined boxes from Grand Central Gems that I got from Walthers a few months ago–the’re a bit pricey, but were on sale so picked up a couple. I like them, because I think foam causes less friction on detail parts when putting the loco back in the box compared to styrofoam, where I’m concerned about jamming the loco back in and having some detail break off. Putting them in plastic can help reduce this problem, however. This is what I’ve done for my P2K E8’s, and will do for my BLI steamer and Stewart DS4 switcher which are packed in styrofoam. My Athearn F3’s are boxed in foam, however. Having said all of that, I still save all of the original boxes for all of the reasons listed by others, including packratitis.
Jim
I have lots and lots of original cases. Pack rat! Maybe I will use them when I eventually move south. But for now they are stored in a xerox box collecting dust.