A friend of mine participates at train shows and always brings plenty of equipment to run on the O gauge layout he and some other guys built. He transports his rolling stock in large plastic containers. That’s it! No newspaper, bubble wrap or packing of any kind! The trains just go straight in! This even includes a number of expensive Lionel and MTH covered hoppers that make up a Canadian grain train! Sure, they’re placed in neatly, but I still cannot fathom how someone could be so neglectful.
It also angers me when I buy trains from people and they put them in a BAG! It’s often train dealers who do this, too!
As for me, I’m a collector and am absolutely paranoid about any of my trains getting even the slightest scratch on them. I could be transporting a junk Marx set that isn’t even good for parts and I’ll be sure to carefully wrap each piece up in bubble wrap and make sure that they can’t move around in the box. Even then, I’m a little uneasy. I will admit that our trains are tough and that the trains I’ve bought unpackaged in bags or boxes have never been damaged as a result, but I still don’t have the courage to attempt such a thing.
Now, these are both extreme ends of the spectrum. I’m curious as to where you guys stand. Are you trusting in the toughness and durability of your trains to be hauled around any old way like my friend or are you an obsessive-compulsive condition freak like myself?
I’m definitely obsessive/compulsive about my trains, too - and not just the trains, but the boxes as well! Heck, I won’t even handle my Standard gauge stuff without washing my hands first. I don’t like smudges on enameled tinplate. I’m a little less careful with plastic O gauge stuff, but not much.
I’m getting lazy in my old age, or perhaps smarter. When I pack for train shows, I only wrap every other piece in newspaper or bubble wrap, then place them in the box in an alternating pattern, so they don’t rub. Half the effort, seems to work just fine. I have completely lost the collector mentality, and have stopped worrying about scratches and resale value.
When I take a loco to a friends house. I will wrap the loco and tender each in a white terry cloth towel and place them carefully in a suitable plastic container. I’m afraid of damaging the manufacturers box for transport.
I have read on a couple of different forms that packing trains in bubble wrap can case dish like marks in the paint from the gas that is used in the bubbles leaking. For storage I have been using the packing papper that you buy at U-Haul. I did use acid free tissue paper but that got hard to find. I am very careful about how my trains are packed and handled.
I keep all my trains in their boxes or on the layout. If I need to move an engine I place it back into the box it came in. The engines I get from lionel and atlas are packed very well. I think they are safe in their boxes. The only problem is getting Atlas engines out of their styrofoam packing. I almost break some of the small detailed parts when I try to remove Atlas engines. Lionel egines are much easier to get in and out of the packing and boxes. I am very careful with my trains.
On the infrequent times I carry my trains around, I wrap them in dishtowels and put them in a shopping bag. But I’m not really a collector. I let visitors and kids touch them. I guess I do not own anything of great value. That said, I like to see them treated with a respect that merits their respective purchase price
I use old bath towels and plastic containers when I bring trains to the club or a friend’s layout. I cannot possibly store all my boxes so that they are handy enough to use, and a fair portion of my stock has no surviving box, anyway.
I am protective of all of my trains. I will not let anyone run/touch the trains I own. If it is an adult, I will. If it is a kid, heck no!!! I am not as protective at train shows with my G Scale equipment, because all of the members know what they are doing. I package them in the peanut pellets from for my O rolling stock, and keep my G in the boxes, and put the cars boxes in containers to make it easier to carry. I never will use newspaper because the letters could stay on the cars.
Very very protective. Very will packaged and carefully transported to shows. My biggest worry is from show attendees. While most, notice I say most, adults seem to understand “do not handle” signs, it is the children that insist upon touching everything on every table that cause me near coronaries. Child control shouldn’t be that difficult.
I’m definately obssesive + compulsive about my trains. When I get a new loco, I freak if even the slightest thing gets on it! I like my models to be in tip-top shape and that’s how I always want it [^][8]!!
One or two people posted that they use bubble wrap or newspapers. The bubble wrap will damage trains over time. Last I knew, newpaper is very high in acid, and the newsprint rubs off.
If you bring a train to a show, expect it to be touched.
I stopped being paranoid about our trains quite some time ago when I noticed that no matter how often my daughter “helped” the figures on her Postwar Newsstand move, it just kept on working. I figured if I wanted her to be interested in trains, and to STAY interested, I should just accept an occasional accident and not limit which ones she could play with. Well, guess what? No major accidents in 15 years AND she writes for the TCAQ (Daddy’s proud, too!). So, lighten up!