Well, went to the realtor Tuesday and signed the papers to get the ball rolling to sell my house. We’re trying to find a basement…um, I mean, a house…in the Hudson Wisconsin area. (Geography is funny - moving from Minnesota to Wisconsin to be closer to your job in St.Paul MN !!)[:o)]
Anyway, I’m just wondering what experiences the posters here have had with moving - do’s and don’ts, lessons learned ‘the hard way’, good results and horror stories !! [}:)]
BTW I’m not trying to move the layout, going to start a new layout in the new house, but will be moving a sizeable number of HO cars, engines, buildings etc. [:)]
Pack them in thier original boxes if possible. Mine have moved that way ever since elementary school. Recently the survived the move from Texas to Califonia, staying in a storage facility for a year, moving back to Texas, staying in another storage facilty for another year, and now unpacked and in a house. No basement, though, [] Nothing was bent, broken, or damaged.
If you do not have the original boxes, get some of those foam lined boxes buils specifically for the purpose of holding and storing the trains.
Do not give them to the movers if at all possiblle. Carry them in your car or if too many, rent a trailer. If you have problems you will find the movers have exclusionary clauses for things like “collectibles” unless you have them inventoried and disclosed ahead of time. That will generally cost more, and many will simply refuse to be responsible
jsoderq has it right - do NOT let the ‘professional’ movers handle your rolling stock, your Waterford crystal or your Ming vase!
For my last move, I lined plastic file boxes (16" x 12" x 10" clear plastic with snap-on lids) with pink extruded foam (1/4" fan fold underlayment, used under vinyl siding) and separated the lines of cars with more of the same. Lengthwise separation and additional padding was done with white paper towels, and ‘decks’ were cut from foam. The rolling stock came through fine - after being driven 1800 miles in the back of an SUV, I have yet to find any damage attributable to the move. A few items, still in their original boxes, weren’t so lucky - but I believe that damage was done by military contract movers the last time I returned from Japan.
Good luck with your move - I envy you your basement. Around here, the ‘basement’ is four inches of reinforced concrete on gravel.
bubble wrap, lots of bubble wrap. Why is it that once you put couplers on an Athearn car it wont fit back in the box? MOVE is a four letter word, and is far worse than many of the others.
Well one advantage - is it’s not that far a move. If necessary I could probably box up the train stuff and leave with a relative until we get the furniture etc. moved in.
Wrap all cars,locos, buildings and delicate stuff in small bubble wrap then put in original boxes. Pack boxes in plastic totes or heavy card board boxes,fill box as to prevent shifting in transit. I recently moved and did this, we also moved ourselves with some help unloading. I handled all train stuff myself, everything came unscathed. Take your time and do it right and definately move your trains and fragiles yourself.
Agreed, with both of you. Most reputable movers will refuse all your household cleaning liquids, solvents, paint, glues, batteries…anything that might lead to an, “Awww, **it!!” at the other end. Same for the really valuable, or one-of-a-kind things. If you have a travel or utility trailer, load it up with your house plants, paints, train stuff, and anything that your significant other would be really unhappy to lose. Travel trailers have tubs and under-master bed storage these day…very handy during a move.
] Nothing was bent, broken, or damaged.