What are some good ways to transport detailed locos in a car? The boxes that they came in areVERY tight and tend to rub off details and paint.
BB
I found some drawer organizers at the local Dollar Store. I have lined them with thin foam, and used chunks of open cell foam to secure them at each end. They nest, 5 to a layer, in a milk crate. The crate takes 5 layers, so I can transport 25 cars in about 1 cubic foot of space. Note that I am using rolling stock that is mostly 50’ or less, since I am modelling the 1920s and 30s. This would not work for excess height box cars, autorack, or 35,000 gallon tankers…!
Andrew
Blind Bruce,
For moving very highly detailed locos and rolling stock, I think supporting them in a cushioned box or container in their normal orientation (on their wheels) is probably the safest way, surrounded by a cushioned material like small size bubble wrap and/or someting soft, like paper towels. Laying detailed models on their sides, or wrapping in a soft cloth is a sure way to pull off or break off small parts. You may damage the paint, decals, or weathering, too.
I transport mine in cushioned car cases, but I do not have extremely detailed models (well, I have a few). It seems to me that anything that holds a super-detailed model too secure has the tendency to damage the small details just as much as not holding it secure enough. I’m thinking of the form-fitting foam that some of the more expensive models come packed in. It is difficult to get them out of the foam, so you wouldn’t want to do that every time you handled the model.
Sorry to ramble, but this is an issue that needs to be individually addressed for each model and by each modeler. Anybody else with different ideas???
Mark C.
I also read that you should put them in a zip lock baggy, that way if any small parts do come off, they will at least be in the bag. Don’t remember if I read it here, or in one of the train mags. Makes sense.
The fleet of Grizzly Northern HO loco’s ( 3 Spectrum Decapods, 2 Consolidations, 1 three-truck Shay and 1 Proto 0-8-0) are transported between home, the club and shows individually rolled in bubble wrap and in 12 inch long plastic drawer organizers, carried in a big Rubber Maid utility tub.
This avoids having to disconnect tenders from locomotives. Since I don’t have a layout this means that they are moved from home to the club or a show frequently, so they get a good deal of handling. They’ve stood up to this very well over two years, only one tender step broken off and needing repair. The bubble wrap also provides a cushion sheet or hammock when working on the locos.
[:)]
This is how I transport my locos to the club. It is 12"x12"x4" & lined with foam.It works great.
Tom
I would line a box with 3/4" of a reasonably dense rubber foam, and then place the loco on it’s side resting on the foam. I would then fill in around the drivers and boiler with cubes of either the same foam or a lighter density foam, but I would go light, and place those pieces against areas that do NOT have details that are quite delicate. Then I would close the lid so that the loco is pinched by the first layer of foam lining the box. As a spacer in a large box carrying more than one loco, place masonite spacers between them, with the spacers each lined with the same denser foam. Ideally, the spacers should be fixed to the sides of the box so that they keep engines from eventually shifting and crowding each other.
In other words, a cheap briefcase (or a spiffy polished metal one [^]) with spaces for one or two locos set apart by the masonite dividers. No matter how you transport the case, the locos will be on their sides part of the time. I agree that it would be ideal to transport them on their own drivers, but how would you handle the case so that they are always in that orientation?
I’ve used the carrying case by Proto Power West. The only change I will make is to use a more “solid” foam. The soft spongy foam that comes with the systems has a tendancy to snag some of the details. The locos and cars rest on their wheels.
RedGrey62