# Train Storage!



## Engineercub (Oct 18, 2008)

I was just wondering how everyone stores their trains. And also what are the no-nos of train storage. Is it ok to store trains in their original boxes in the heat or cold? How about power supplies? Do you keep your trains and power supplies in climate control? Dennis Sirrine stores his trains in his garage on racks but I'm not sure if he has climate control in there. Knowing his obvious financial state, I would say he probably does. I'm sure the original boxes would fade in the heat, how about the paint on cars and engines? Ah the grand road of learning ;-)

-Will


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## Trains (Jan 2, 2008)

I store all my trains on shelves in the basement, all the boxes are in the Attic in big boxes. I don't think I would store the trains where it gets to hot.


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## Bruce Chandler (Jan 2, 2008)

My locomotives are stored in their carriers in the basement, on shelves. I have chargers set up so I can just open one end of the carrier and charge each locomotive as necessary.

I like having the carriers because it makes it easy to keep tenders coupled to the locomotive and gives me an easy way to transport them out of the basement, or to another layout. 

I make them out of then plywood. This one holds my boxcab.









Fourteen to fifteen of my rolling stock are stored outside. 










The roof lifts off for access and I can just place them on the nearby track when I'm ready to run.










The cars are stored in two layers of seven cars each; but I usually put a hopper on top of my flatcar and store 15. 


The rest of my cars are stored in the garage on shelves, in carriers. Each carrier can hold four cars. I made three of my carriers out of styrene.












I have four that are made out of wood.











I don't have any of the original boxes.

I haven't seen any issues with storing cars either in the garage or outside in my building. Well, there are some spiders that get on the ones outside. I'm not sure what they eat in there.


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

I have a shed near my layout. I keep most of my cars in totes, so I can just carry out a tote with 8-12 cars in it, stacked two high. My streamliner set fits in one tote and my Zephyr is in another, so it's pretty handy. Some sit on shelves in the building, mostly my wooden cars.


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## Guest (May 24, 2009)

i store my trains not very carefull. and we got temperatures up to 45° centigrade. 
the original packages, even the nearly forty year old, dont show more, than the normal wear (and lots of dust) 
only issue i ever had, the molded foam in most of the packages tends to glue itself to some types of plastic. (not to all)


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## Engineercub (Oct 18, 2008)

So storing outside in 10º-110º weather shouldn't be too much of a problem?


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## eheading (Jan 5, 2008)

My mainline passes through my RV garage, which also is my "yard". So all of my trains are "stored" in the RV garage, either sitting on brass tracks on the floor, ready to roll, or on wooden tracks on shelves. I am sure the temperature exceeds 100 degrees F sometimes in the summer, but I doubt if it ever gets below freezing in the winter. Never had a problem at either temperature extreme. Somedays in the summer, I go out, and just fire up an engine and let 'er roll - no issues.

Ed


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## Engineercub (Oct 18, 2008)

That sounds good, would the heat have negative effects on the original boxes? 

-Will


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## eheading (Jan 5, 2008)

Will, I don't keep my trains in their original boxes, or even keep most of the boxes, but I have a few of them, and I haven't seen any effects on them in my environment. The only time I have problems is if the garage leaks a little and they get wet!!

Ed


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I tried plastic bins that held about 3 cars each, but they did not stand up to the sun. Also, stacking them was too much weight.

Slapped these together and they roll right to where I need them. Nice large wheels to get over the bumps.

Regards, Greg


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Engineercub on 05/24/2009 5:46 PM
That sounds good, would the heat have negative effects on the original boxes? 

-Will


Our friend Jeffro and I have both been keeping stuff (H0e-large scale, brass, plastic, resin, metal, wood and everything in between) in the attic for years here in the Nashvegas area for years now, not an ill effect.

Basements will kill trains as dad is finding out with his Lionel, his Madison cars have developed an interesting case of flaking mold. Also the occasional moldy/stinky/damaged box shows up in my collection when I buy LGB trains from up in Yankee land from basement storage.

So my cars et al are in the attic, and the locos on the shelves for display. This is probably the worst due to the dust in the house compared to the cars tucked away in their boxes.


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## Richard Smith (Jan 2, 2008)

I use various sheds at different points on the RR. This one doubles as a lumber warehouse/industry. It holds about 14 cars which can be rolled right out to spot at the industries there. 










I have two others so far that are hidden from view and therefore lack detailing. A fourth is planned for the farthest end of the RR (point to point) which will be part of the lumber mill complex planned for there. 

The lokies are always brought inside but the cars remain outside all year round. Note that we don't get any heavy or prolonged snowfall although we do get considerable rain.


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

*We have two or three places to set up our trains and like to keep some rolling stock in the garage for quick set up. So we built this cart using a garden wagon. Then extended it and made the axles wider to put on a 38 inch X 6 foot box with shelfs in it. Then we put about 30 lbs of air in the tires for a softer ride.
It can hold 30 cars on shelfs and 8 Eng's. in the bottom under the shelfs. Top holds a few more flat cars, some little people and veh.*


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

I have rolling stock by Aristo, Bachman, USA, and LGB that has always been outdoors for 5 years now.

Some color fading, and LGB holds up the best, followed by Bachman.

I keep my 27mhz trackside and 55474/75 receivers outdoors year round.


Temperatures go from -20 to 100 degrees in my area, and no problems to date.

Engines and any cars with electronics are stored in an unheated bulkhead.


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

I keep most of the locos and rolling stock in a16 foot  long shed I built:









 


It's ventilated and watertight. The assembled trains just roll right out down a long spur to the mainline 


I also have a siding running along the side of the shed where I keep 16 feet of cars, just sitting outside. I've seen no real bad effects, just some actual natural weathering. Mostly the paint fades a little


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## bottino (Feb 7, 2008)

I think we have done this before, Here is my 4 x 16 ft storage shed. It has six tracks inside. Like lownote the trains are made up, so I am up and running quickly. 
Paul


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## Dougald (Jan 2, 2008)

Onthe IPP&W ( the host railroad of the Ottawa Valley Garden Railroad Society www.ovgrs.org ) we have both standard gauge and narrow gauge sets of rolling stock comprising almost 200 cars each. Each is stored in bread trays on racks in its own outdoor storage shed.

Setup for our saturday morning operations is done by taking the trays from the shed and using a computer printout, spotting the cars on the layout at their assigned place. At the end of the session, the cars are picked up in trays colour coded by location to make setup the next time easy. We roll our operations and cars must be put back the following session where they ended in the current session.

Messing with the car trays results in a 2 hour long tedious sort to put the cars back in their proper tray so members are fairly conscientious should they just run a train. Running trains randomly is a fairly rare event as members much prefer the more formalo ops sessions - once the session ends, members seldom run trains and prefer to socialize at that point.

Regards ... Doug


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Presently Locos and some cars indoors on bookshelves, others are safe outdoors. 
Plans include lockable car bar for the locos and other expensive pieces of rolling stock attached to the raliway. 

The railroad is down steps and across a dirt driveway, no carts for me, hence some rolling stock is left outside... I do have privacy, 'cept I had to chase off a young boy throwing rocks at small critters. He came down the back hill and I cut him off before he got around to the trains. I'll have to keep an eye out for him. Hmmm car barn may grow, I'd better allow for that!


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## Ted Doskaris (Oct 7, 2008)

Some years ago I built a dedicated train closet located within the tallest corner of my under house area.
The house is on somewhat of a hill so under the house there is a walk in section - ultimately narrowing to a crawl space. The door opening in the foreground is located nearest to the train closet.









The below pictures show my under house train closet.
It includes two 4 foot florescent light fixtures and a pocket door to save space. The closet size is approximately 5 feet deep by 10 feet long by 6.5 feet high. The closet was constructed for potential multipurpose use and built with mostly salvaged materials that I already had, including the use of 2" x 8" studs for one of its walls.
It is fully vapor barriered and insulated from wall to wall and floor to ceiling. It also includes a dedicated, thermostat damper controlled HVAC 4 inch duct. I installed 20 inch deep wire type shelves to hold the G scale rolling stock for best possible ventilation.










I installed wire shelving for good ventilation.



















Since the closet was built it has become too small to house all the trains I have since acquired, so I added wire shelving within other areas under the house.

I do not have moisture problems (or mold issues) in the train closet or other areas selected for storage purposes. What helps is that the furnace system being located under the house draws its combustion air from its surrounds, thus, promoting air circulation via the various peripheral side vents normally found and required by building codes in such areas. 

As can be seen, I keep whatever rolling stock & locos not in use on the layout in their original boxes - with preference of placing them upright (wheels facing down). 
I found this particularly important for the locos, so the grease in motor blocks won't migrate and cake up in an unintended area. 
I say this because I previously discovered such a problem with stored HO locos when they were placed on their sides. 

-Ted


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

We store everything in our garage during the winter months on various shelving. No climate control other then the insulation of the garage:


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Richard Smith on 05/25/2009 12:56 AM
I use various sheds at different points on the RR. This one doubles as a lumber warehouse/industry. It holds about 14 cars which can be rolled right out to spot at the industries there. 










I have two others so far that are hidden from view and therefore lack detailing. A fourth is planned for the farthest end of the RR (point to point) which will be part of the lumber mill complex planned for there. 

The lokies are always brought inside but the cars remain outside all year round. Note that we don't get any heavy or prolonged snowfall although we do get considerable rain.

That is about the sharpest, neatest-looking arrangement I have yet seen for storage of consists. I may consider something similar for some of my own rolling stock. --Ron


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

I left three sets of passenger cars parked in the unheated Cicely model structure all winter. Temps dropped at one point to minus 55 F. This caused no problem for those coaches, which were mostly USA Train extruded aluminum in that the paint was unaffected. The locos are all battery-powered and must be stored somewhere inside where there is at least minimal heat.


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## wchasr (Jan 2, 2008)

As I STILL have no layout Almost all my trains are in boxes as I got them or stored on racks. In the garage (All metal building) they are almost all in the original boxes then in cases. In teh basement (this time heated) there are loose cars and boxed ones as well. I started collecting trains in the early nineties so most all are in the oringinal boxes and have been stored in a variety of conditions. From damp crawl spaces to heated basements to heated but wet basements to dry but damp basements including storage untis that were totally unheated. For the most part the trains I've inspected have faired pretty well. Stil it will be interesting to see what faired well in storage and transport over the years and what ahs not. I'm sure I'm fairly unique in my situation too. As I've been moving and over time I've amassed even more of a collection with each successive move. I've gotten a little more selective about what I'm buying lately though. At some point I hope to get a more focussed approach to what I want to have and keep as I decide on my final layout. I'm leaning towards a dedicated structure for the trains hopefully heated but not neccesarily. Teh shelving I've got currently consists of some metal racking that was purchased at a local hardware store and Shelving made from a 4x8 foot piece of 1/2 plywood screwed to the legs of two brand new palletts and reinforced with metal angle iron on the outside edge. In the basement is a shelving system made from old hollow core doors that were by pass doors on the closets in the house that we replaced. They were screwed to 2x4s and braced appropriately. I think that if I cannot have direct trakc access I will build something similar to the large box on a garden cart simply because I think it is slightly more stable that the cart on casters for my yard. Unless I start pouring lots of concrete sidewalks around. 

Chas


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## GG (Jan 1, 2009)

Posted By Engineercub on 05/24/2009 3:42 PM
I was just wondering how everyone stores their trains. And also what are the no-nos of train storage. Is it ok to store trains in their original boxes in the heat or cold? How about power supplies? Do you keep your trains and power supplies in climate control? Dennis Sirrine stores his trains in his garage on racks but I'm not sure if he has climate control in there. Knowing his obvious financial state, I would say he probably does. I'm sure the original boxes would fade in the heat, how about the paint on cars and engines? Ah the grand road of learning ;-)

-Will 




Will, here are my plans as I move forward with time: 

My cars are OK for year round outdoor storage. Well ventilated, rain and snow proof, and sealed from insects and varmits. I am eying my dogs "doghouse" and will refit it, make it longer to handle two tracks for storage. These tracks will feed the mainline and inner line on the layout. 

Loco's c/w electronics are different. Here I will have a "loading and unloading" spur for the locos. I will create an 'easyloader" where I simply push the loco off the easyloader onto the spur etc. (modified split-jaw version) This will allow for minimal manhandling of the loco and in particular soft bellied ones (triplex or articulated) Locos will be stored inside and brought out for the event(s). 

DCS / DCC / Power supplies are currently in a cooler and due to design are suitable for either outdoor or indoor. As I will be running my xmas train(s), the controls will migrate in for the winter season. Otherwise, the controls reside outdoors and in the shed. 

Everything subject to change as my theories blow up in my face ! 

gg


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## studeclunker (Mar 15, 2009)

WOOOOOW! This has been one impressive display! Richard’s layout is impressive no matter what angle I see of it! But those rolling boxes, now… THAT’S impressive! Sorry fellas, I gotta copy it! Gee… one of those flat garden wagons would make a capital base. Then I’ve got that big plywood box… Ah, the dial-up is slow, but the Earth is patient. I store some of mine in this cabinet. Sorry about the odd angles. It's in a hallway so it's hard to get the whole thing in one shot:










The rest are stored in their original boxes, what's left of them. They spent several years in a damp steel storage shed. I didn’t realize just how bad the thing was till too late. It had ruined most of those boxes. The mice finished off what the shed hadn’t ruined. Thankfully, the cars themselves were weather-proof and weren’t damaged (aside from a bit of chewing). So, I rented a small storage unit and put them there. They’ve been fine since.


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