I would appreciate tips on organizing all the stuff that comes with running and maintaining a layout and model RR. We all have different situations but I often need to see some examples that i can steal ideas from to accomplish something like this.
Can you post photos or suggest links?
Thanks
Keith
Gidday Keith, A slightly belated [#welcome] to the forum.
Here’s a couple of recent links to modellers work benches, some fine examples of organisation and others…
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/213482.aspx
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/213623.aspx
…mine would definitely fall into the category of others. [:$]
Have Fun.
Cheers, the Bear.
For me its nothing fancy.
I keep my tools in two tackle boxes one is for small screw drivers,small vice grip,NMRA gauge,small plastic fly boxes that has KD couplers,centering springs,detail parts,repair parts,metal wheels(33" and 36") HO ruler,decal scissors,modeling knives,blades,drill bits,various size screws and other such items.Tackle box two holds my paint and brushes.The tool box houses my Dremel,Dremel disks,modeling saws, a jewelers hammer and other large tools.
.A small flat storage box holds my decals.I keep my Testors airbrush and spray cans in another small flat storage box.
See nothing fancy but,its well organized.
I have a tool caddie that my tools are in when not in use. I keep non-descript detail parts in an old Bowser Locomotive kit box and various other parts (wheels, truck frames, couplers , templates, replacement knife blades, very small drill bits, screws nuts and small bolts, etc. in one of those metal wall cabinets with small plastic drawers.
How stuff is arranged is less important than the fact that it is organized and that you understand where to look for the items you have.
I have several tool boxes, the kind that come with trays with lids in the top for small stuff, and a tray divided into slots within…
I also have several “jewelry parts” boxes…el cheapo Dollar Store divided trays with lids designed for those who make jewelry to separate parts out into the separate slots…
They are divided as to purpose- I have one tool box for scenery stuff, one tool box for kit making/building. one tool box for loco/RR car parts/kits stuff, One for MRRIng Tools, etc.
They are all labeled on top so I know what is where.
I also have a couple tool boxes to hold loose RR cars that never had a box {those bought at train shows}, too.
Good luck with your endeavor to keep stuff organized!!!
[8-|]
Sometimes, the best contribution one can make is to serve as a bad example for others. That’s me. My workbench is a cluttered mess. So is the space beneath my layout, and the floor of my workroom.
I do have some redeeming qualities, though. I have a number of those segmented small-parts boxes, one for LEDs and resistors, another for Kadee coupler parts and so on. I put old non-Kadee couplers in an empty medicine bottle, and horn-hooks in another. Why I don’t throw them away is anybody’s guess. Why I don’t throw empty medicine bottles away is anybody’s guess, too.
I have tried cleaning up the workroom floor. Within a few days, my wife sees empty space and puts stuff there, so it’s not a sustainable situation anyway.
Hi,
I am very fortunate to have a nice room for a work area. Once or twice a year I do a major organization getting stuff properly stored on shelves, cigar boxes, and other containers. The result is pretty nice.
That lasts about a week, and like an ever larging ameoba, the mess slowly takes over the room.
Interesting aside… it is quite true that some of the best modeling efforts are done on very cramped and clutter work spaces…
Organized? who’s organized?
I have:
2 tackle boxes for tools
A regular tool box for tools
A metal desk with drawers full of stuff.
A Craftsman rolling tool cart with 5 drawers for tools, parts, paints, etc.
5 sets of bookshelves for rolling stock, structures, scenery supplies, etc.
1 rolling set of steel shelves with 3 parts cabinets and other assorted stuff on it.
At least 2 dozen boxes full of train stuff that I can’t unpack until I get more storage space.
All of this is scattered about the basement and my “office” on the main floor.
After 40 years I have accumulated a lot of stuff.
Enjoy
Paul
In my experience,It seems it’s very rare when Organized & Model railroader appear in the same sentence.
Mine are divided as follows:
I’ve always like things organized so,I can put my hands on the things I need while modeling…I hate messy work areas as well.
My philosophy is a clean work area is a happy environment.
I have the usual collection of tackle boxes, multiple drawer parts holders, the plastic containers used by bead collectors are very useful – I have one with a double snap top and two levels of storage, some of which is long enough for roofwalk running boards and the like.
Indeed I would say in general, echoing another poster above, that jewelers, beaders, stampers, and other craft collectors have a host of storage choices available to them many of which are extremely appropriate for model railroading.
I also save the large plastic bottles of ipubrofen and other medicines/vitamins.
I save every box that new blank checks come in. Thanks in part to model railroading I write a lot of checks!
Even shoe boxes are exceptionally useful for storing discarded car bodies and other abandoned projects.
I would say that in my experience the most important thing is not finding the box or other storage. it is clearly labeling what is in the box, and being consistent in where it is located, so that you aren’t tearing into every container to find that supply of Kadee #5 copper centering springs …
Dave Nelson
I am fortunate in that I work for a company that installs electronics at prodigious rates. Several manufactures distribute their components to us in nice, sturdy, 200lb test, cardboard, flip top boxes. You know the type that have the arc type cardboard flaps that go in side slots to seal the top down. I have about a hundred of these throw-aways that measure 12 X 9 inches and 3 inches tall. I have found this size to be large enough to hold about 95% of my various types of MR stuff and yet small enough not to take up a lot of space. Perfect!
I label the 3X9 ends with laser printed tags to identify what is inside, i.e., HOn3 switches, switch machines, track supplies, people & animals, trucks, couplers, lighting supplies, detailing parts, soldering supplies, paint brushes, specialized MR tools, etc. I guess I have about 25 boxes of this type stacked near my bench.
The boxes are also perfect for rolling stock and loco build and DCC projects that are in progress, as well. You have to keep all their various related materials together as your work progresses. “stick-on” labels serve here to identify the project to be found inside.
As they are all the same size, they stack, vertically, nicely and the labels on the ends clearly show what’s inside. The only large boxes I have are for scenery and scenics supplies and train rolling stock storage.
My common tools are on peg board hangers within easy reach on my work bench.
These sturdy boxes can be found at uline.com, part number S-16936. Current price is $1.34 each in bundles of 25.
Richard
Tackle boxes, dedicated workbench with a shelf and pegboard backing and a hardware cabinet with small drawers.
Storage?? My layout room is 13’ X 22’ and space is very tight. Most of the supplies and the workshop must fit in this room with the layout. I have shuffled, sorted and stashed stuff from day one.
I started out using flat plastic tubs, then I went to paper box lids on racks, recently I have built a storage cabinet with flat drawers for my rolling stock. I have three roll out work benches and every spare inch under the layout has something stored there.
When I am working the room is a big mess. When I am showing the layout or hosting ops everything is stashed underneath. In a perfect world I would have a separate work area …. such is life…
My stuff is sorted into long term storage, easy access (tools mostly), rolling stock storage (mostly clean spaces where rolling stock can be stored standing up) and projects in progress. I put drawers on the underside of the workbenches for the tools, store the rolling stock in bins and in my new cabinet and I keep ongoing projects in the box lid flats (over 25 of these)… The rest gets shoe-horned in around the edges.
My room is such that it is full all the time…In order to make room for new stuff I will occasionally purge items that I “had to have” for stuff that I “have to have” today… these items used to go to Ebay now on HOYS….
Guy
Even though its a huge mess, I know where everything is. If you look in the background, the case with little drawers keeps all little parts organized. I’m a Yankee so that means we never throw anything out. So there is a compartment full of horn hook couplers and another full of Kadee wanna be couplers. Anyone need any?
Keith!
“Organized”? How about 2 degrees below ‘a hurricane just went through’![swg]
I have a cheap plastic tool rack that holds pliers, screwdrivers, mini saws, larger files, magnifying glass etc. I have a small piece of pine that holds my small files and Dremel bits. I have four larger plastic multi drawer storage units, in which I use old Blue Box boxes for sorting. I have a small parts drawer box that holds resistors etc. I have an old kitchen upper cabinet that mainly holds locomotive boxes. I have 10 shelves, of which seven have track. Finally, I have stacks of boxes - building kits in one corner, and rolling stock kits on the side of the workbench.
Warning - these are not pretty!![(-D]
If I can make a suggestion:
Keep all your rolling stock boxes. I made the mistake of throwing most of my boxes out because I wanted my stuff on the shelves so I could see it. The problem with that is dust! If you are storing your stuff in your workroom you will be exposing it to dust from sanding, sawing, using your dremel tool etc.
As for ‘organized’ - well, I think I know where most of my stuff is but every so often I get a surprise by finding something I have forgotten about. That us
Organize? We are supposed to be organized? Humm another aspect of model railroading where I’ve totally missed the train. I’m guessing I can’t find 75% of my stuff if someone asked (assuming I even remembered that I had it in the first place.)
Yech, the ‘O’ word. Not even on the radar at this point; after a weekend of benchwork, the layout is barely discernable under a layer of tools, plans, and lumber oddments (the trains are currently under a sawdusty sheet of foam underlay). Organization…hmm… maybe someday, but not yet.
A few months ago I thought I was organized - but i have this habit of not putting things back where they belong. So…I need to get organized.