Like so many I have a few locomotives sitting in boxes in which they did not come in.
A couple of the engines lost their boxes when I had a water leak which reached a couple of storage boxes containing model railroad equipment. I replaced the large cardboard storage boxes I had been using with vinyl boxes.
The individual engines which had lost their original boxes were stored in a number of light cardboard boxes from a variety of sources. The locomotives in the boxes are wrapped in bubble wrap.
To day I started to rebox some of my locomotives into boxes which are more substantial and of better quality.
I ended up with a number of old cigar boxes which I recently bought from the local Tobacconist. I just happened to be in the store and saw him replaceing stock and there were a number of wood boxes he was getting ready to dispose of. He charged me the outragouse price of a dollar a box. He said he used to sell the empty boxes at swap meets but that there was little or now interst anymore.
To me they are great, it took ten minutes to soak off the paper labels and five minutes to cut the foam. The foam is in 1/2" and 1 1/2" sheets and works out to about a dollar and a half a box.
The foam is very easy to cut, used old foam inserts for reference for cutting.
All I need now is to put on a paper label on the outside of the box identifying the engine inside.
I thought the same kind of a thing for a minute Jim. ReBoxx is making loco’s? BTW, I love their wheel sets.
Don, I am also relegated to the basement which from time to time has water in it from unknown or unseen sources. I bought some very large Rubbermaid tubs from Wal-Mart. Then I put all my boxes and unused/yet to be built equipment in the tubs. Unless there is a real flood I should be okay. I bought too much stuff at the Amherst Train show so I should go buy another tub or two.
The cost for the box and foam is very reasonable (cheap).
Rebox charges what I consider very unreasonable amounts for their foam and boxes. As I mentioned my cost for the foam was approx $1.50 and the box was a dollar. I will need to print a label but that too is inexpensive.
Foam is actually very easy to cut, it is essential to have extremely sharp blades. I one takes their time it is not difficult at all.
I was very surprised to see just how far the water spread to reach a couple of the boxes with my model railroad equipment. I had intended to build some display shelfs one day but never got around to it. The water reached the banker boxes and soaked the bottom 1/2" on four boxes. I bought the vinyl tubs the next day.
The tubs are great for bulk storage but I still want individual boxes for my locomotives.The wood cigar boxes are just the right size for the smaller engines. For the larger engines I will need to do some searching for some larger boxes.
Don, I’d suggest wrapping the locos with clear plastic before placing them in the foam. While it’s unlikely that your foam will deteriorate, as was the case with some older foam inserts, and damage the finish of the models, the plastic wrapper prevents small detail parts from snagging in the foam. This helps to prevent damage to both the loco and the foam. Any clean plastic bag can be cut-up and used for this purpose.
Wayne, yes I hear you. I have wrapped up all of my engines that are in storage in clear plastic to prevent any new foam damage. .
I was surprised at how bad the tarnish was on some of the brass locomotives that I acquired. It certainly is a job to remove the old tarnish and buff out some of the areas where the brass became etched due to the foam.
Excellent reuse of those fine cigar boxes! Gotta love the low overall cost as well. I will have to check with our local smoke shop as I could use a couple boxes for engines that didnt come with a box. I have to agree that Reboxx’s prices are to high for boxes and foam. I guess they think brass buyers wont hesitate to drop the $$ for brass, they will drop the same for boxes for older models missing boxes. I could see that kind of price if they were making the effort to replicate the actual box finish of each of the major importers like PFM, Balboa, Tenshodo ect. Where did you source your foam? Mike
You can find the foam at any fabric shop. Another great source is if you have any furniture upholstery shops, if you are lucky you can find large chunks of foam at cheap prices (scraps).
The foam comes in 1/2", 1", 1 1/2", 2". I have seen the odd bit of 4" foam as well.
The basic colour is white, which turns yellow with time. I would think that foam would dye very easily, note that fabric dyes are cheap as well.
I am waiting for a larger box that will be available near the end of the month, I still need a box for a SP Mountain engine. That box is blonde in colour and will cost me $5.00 as it has brass hinges and clasps. Still cheap.
Like some of the rest of you, Rebox prices stopped me cold but I’ve found some alternatives. Photo storage boxes are fairly substantial and just the right size for most locomotives. They’re about $3.50 each and have a slot to put a label in. You can get 1" thick foam from any carpet warehouse or store and cut it to size with sharp scissors. An even cheaper alternative is to get a bundle of white boxes at Staples or Office Max. Here you can find boxes that will fit the largest HO engines out there. Best of all, you can use the top cover to keep a log concerning when you bought your engines, painted them, repaired them and etc. Placing your engine on top of a sheet of clear wrapping paper is probably less cumbersome than bubble wrap and this stuff often comes with a rebox box.
Jim, I myself prefer something a bit more special than a plain white storage box for my brass models. Now plastic stuff is ok. But for my brass, I like wood or more ornate boxes. The idea of using cigar boxes is perfect for the smaller engines. When I go restock on butage gas for my Regner live steamer, I wil see what they have for cigar boxes. Mike
I tried the plain white box route, but found them to look really cheap. I even painted a couple of them, but being paper they scrap just looking at them.
The cigar box route is the way to go. It takes a couple of minutes with a sander and all of the labeling is gone.
I bought some ready to use varnish spray, it comes in various wood finishes a few coats of the spray and you have a very nice wooden box.
I would hazard a guess that 1/2 hour is all it takes for the total time to change to boxes over to nice ornate boxes.
I checked the shelves and a 11" wide x 7 1/2" box appears to be the largest of the normal stock of cigars being carried at the tobacconist.
I also boxed up a larger engine, a 4-8-2 Santa Fe 3700.
Do not know when I will paint this one. Having changed to Canadian and US Northern railroads this engine is not really needed. Too bad as it is one excellent running engine.
Notice that I sanded of the brand names, but forgot the one under the clasp.
Who would want a cardboard box when you could have one of these.
Well I finished re-boxing my locomotives which required new boxes.
I kept track of the total costs and it works out to about $6.00 a box. Total time spent on each box was no more than 30 minutes for each box. I ended up using my labeler to identify each locomotive, I was surprised that I could still find labels for it, used black on clear labels.
Being aware that some of the plastic (bread wrappers?) that replaced the factory wrap on used brass I bought can stick fast to the finish, I called Reboxx about their HO wraps back on Feb. 9 to place a direct order. Seems the LHS or any of the E-tail outlets I use don’t carry it. I got a price and an expected shipment date but I haven’t heard anything since then.
Also, if you haven’t looked, Amazon has pick&pluck foam for sale in various thicknesses. It looks better than white fabric store pillow foam. While you’re at it buy some achival grade tissue to wrap your painted models.
