I inherited my grandfather’s layout when he passed and need to know if there is an trusted company that somebody could recommend. It needs to be moved from North Carolina to Illinois. I’m not brave enough to drive a uhual through the mountains, but I’m also scared that if we hire someone it won’t be treated carefully. It’s already in its own 10’x10 create but also have to move all the models and a pretty extensive library. He kept every newsletter, correspondence and tons of photos from the Wabash Railroad Historical Society. Please, if anyone could point me in the right direction, I would really appreciate it.
Driving a rental truck and I assume you mean a box truck is not all that difficult since they come with an automatic transmission and with such a light load you don’t need to fear it running away from you going down long grades. Even a heavily loaded one wouldn’t be a problem.
I drove a Ryder from Cincinnatti to Bristol, VA through mountains in both KY and TN with out a moments concern. The truck with the automatic transmission was not much different than driving a car. You just need to maintain the proper speed. Being inexperienced I didn’t do much passing.
Rent one for a few hours at home and get the feel of it and you will find out whether you want to make the trip yourself.
If the crate can be loaded at an angle rather than laid flat you may be able to use a van. Check the measurements.
Remember it will be something you can talk about for years and each time the story will get bigger. lol
Happy motoring
Bob
The last 16ft truck I rented from Penske came with cruise control which is, in my thinking, a must have for long distance highway travel. Relatively car-like ride but you have to be aware of the size (the big side mirrors help). Bob had good advice, rent one for the day for local travel first (the main cost is mileage and and gas, not the daily rate).
If you do rent a truck, DO NOT drive it here!
Doing it yourself is the best way. The truck is a piece of cake unless you are 16 and just learning how to drive. Take it easy, stay at or below the speed limit and you should be OK. As far as the mountains, stay on the interstates as much as you can. They have smoothed out most of the real grades.
Since a Uhaul truck won’t handle a 10’x10’ crate, you have to have someone haul it for you anyway. If the 10x10 is flat on the ground it’s also an oversized load which will cost you extra to move. Unless you can turn it on it’s side, you might want to consider cutting the layout into smaller pieces.
You could also contact some of the firms that do custom layout building and see if they can help you.
Good luck
Paul
Paul,
I’ll have to disagree with you on this one. Below are the facts on a Ryder “City Van”
City Van
14 to 16 ft, 3 - 4 rooms
Daily Rate : $42.49 per day
Weekly Rate : $212.46 per week
Mileage Rate : $0.49per Mile
Plenty of room for the crate and a whole lot more.
If this is one is too small then there is the straight truck.
The city van is fun to drive whereas the straight truck is after all a truck. Take my word on it and I’ve driven both.
Bob
The crate will have to go vertically or on a vertical diagonal - no standard truck has an inside width over 8ft. Paul is right - an oversize permit will be needed to transport the crate flat.
And not all that many rental trucks have an inside height of 10ft - which means putting the crate on the diagonal. Overall thickness, and the strength of the crate is going to matter. It will probably take some supports to keep the crate intact and properly supporting the layout while on the diagonal.
It really might be quite a bit cheaper and easier in the long run to uncrate, cut the layout, and recrate so that at least one horizontal dimension of each piece is less than 8ft.
How easy is it to get a 10x10 crate into the new location? Except for barns and garages, no doors are going to take a 10x10 crate. Unless you are going to keep the layout in a barn or garage permanently, might as well cut it apart in the beginning instead of at the end.
And this assumes you can get the crate out of its current location intact.
I just bought a used 5ft x 7ft x 6" display case. We ended up having to disassemble the thing because it wouldn’t come out of the seller’s basement intact - even though I had carefully planned a vehicle to transport the case, and have a walk-in basement at my house where the case was going.
Fred W
Gold Elite Member of Uncle Sam’s Frequent Relocation Club
Paul / Fred,
After a little googleing I stand corrected and all this discussion about a rental truck was a waste of time.
My apologies !!!
Bob
The crate is 10x10 by??? It might still fit. I’ve driven a few moving vans. Where I live most city ones are 4 speeds standards while the highway, lomg distance ones are automatics. Check before you rent.
-
It’s a shame a real RR can’t move it for you
-
This is like the washing machine situtation. When my brother moved to Israel one of the things that had to be considered was the size of the washer/dryer set he exported from the US (A Mayteg I believe) after much measuring he determined the model he wanted would it though the narrower Israeli doors by 2CM.
Check these guys and a few of their competitors:
http://www.fedex.com/us/freight/index.html
http://www.ups.com/anysize/?WT.mc_id=iPros_UPS-Freight-General-NonBranded_45321708&WT.srch=1
Kcycotte,
The ten by 10’ X 10’ crate seem to be the stumbling block which has me thinking about what the layout is like.
A square layout that size is most unusual to say the least. Even if it’s a walk around one could never reach the center. Perhaps it is open in the center, if so cutting it in half as previously suggested may not be that difficult. Would you please describe the layout? Did you or someone else do the crating?
I assume you are in Illinois so what kind of help do you have in NC?
Then there are the models and papers. Are they packed and ready to ship or will you load them in your car?
This problem intrigues me and has my curiosity working overtime.
Bob
RE Shipping a 10’x10’ crate.
The legal limit on width is 8ft 6 inches. However if this can go on its side you can rent an open trailer (U Haul has) and put it in on an angle with bracing.
The restrictions on size on highways are 8 ft 6 in wide, 13 ft 6 in tall(from the pavement to maximum height of vehicle) and for a single vehicle 40 ft in length.
If you want a quote on moving something like this you might try a moving company( NC to OH I would expect something on the order of $2000 - $4000 .
There are cargo brokers out there but be kind of cautious there as the shipping bussiness is very much in the category of buyer beware. I hate to say the later, but recently there was a TV reality show on this kind of subject and what I say was the “Original American Hour”. What I worry about is even amongst the best I hear of horror stories.
The flip side is that there are many, many, many more 1st rate professionals that are well versed in getting things shipped and moved.
If you want to try to do this yourself my personal thoughts are using a trailer and building a frame to tilt the box on an angle.
Rgds IGN