Locomotive Storage


Railrunner130

Railrunner130

Well-Known Member
I've been trying to figure a better place/way to store my locomotives. The way I see it, there are five ways to store locomotives. They all have their good points and bad.
1. In their original box - Some boxes are gone/never had them. Additionally, disconnecting the DCC plugs and fighting with the packaging can cause damage. But, they're protected from dust.
2. In a display box - Expensive but dust-free. Storage space is at a premium and they tend to get in the way. I store my "museum" pieces that way.
3. In a display case - More expensive than the display box, but the per locomotive cost is lower. Wall mounts tend to save some space, provided they are properly anchored. Had that experience once.... Lost two locomotives after six months of use. The display case has been remounted with no further issues, but I am a little leary.
4. On the track - Probably the least desirable way to store locomotives, even though it would sound like the most logical. This exposes the locomotives to dust and requires a bit of track space. Just as a personal preference, I'd want to be able to turn off power to the track where the locomotive would reside to save electrical issues.
5. Storage boxes - Perhaps I'm simply using the wrong ones. I store several locomotives in plastic "Shoe boxes", which keep out the dust, but subject the locomotive to potential damage while moving the boxes and loading/unloading other locomotives.
Does anyone have any good suggestions for how to better store locomotives?
 
Look into the line of storage boxes by Plano. I store my Walthers A-B-A set of E units in one. I line the compartments with bubble wrap or foam. They keep out dust and prevent damage during transport. The bubblewrap doubles as a method for lifting out the locos from the individual slots. No damage yet!
 
I keep all of my locomotives on the layout. I have 2 engine terminals with a turntable and roundhouse and tracks for engine storage. Still, there are more locomotives than will fit into the storage tracks, but I keep trains in hidden storage tracks for inbound trains and have quite a few on these tracks.
 
I tend to keep most of mine in the original boxes if I have one. The ones I have with no box usually stay on the layout. I do like the idea of a display case. It would make it a lot easier to run different engines by not having to dig out boxes. What I need to do is stop buying them, lol! While I may not have that many compared to some people, for me it's a bit to many for me to run regularly. While I like the protection of the boxes, I hate to see trains I have just always stay in boxes for a year or more at a time.

-Laurence
 
Mine go back into their original cartons. I don't really like handling the tethers any more than I absolutely must, but....they're otherwise safe and can be stacked nicely inside a cupboard. For the odd one without a carton, I use Styrofoam popcorn to surround them inside of a box. Packed carefully and densely so that the closed carton lid doesn't sag, they do well that way, including during moves. So far....
 
You can find individual plastic cases on ebay. Line them with bubble wrap and you're all set.

Oh crap!
 
I only have 4 locomotives for my current layout. I still have locomotives from my last layout. I had about 20 locomotives. Some not running, 6 or 7 were NIB. I kept them stored in the box they came in. Nscale is relatively fragile compared to HO.

None of my HO locomotives came with a box. All of them are currently on the layout. I am thinking of eventually putting up a display shelf. I barely have enough cars and locomotives for an intense operating session right now. I have taken a pragmatic approach to buying anything for my layout. I have had a few items calling my name, but then I say " this doesn't fit my operating scheme " and leave it on the shelf.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk
 
I purchased an inexpensive glass shelved curio cabinet, assembled it, and had a nice display case/storage cabinet combination. I think I paid $79 for it.
The current train room locomotive storage area consists of a large closet with slidng doors, and a pair of three-shelved bookshelves I got from Walmart for less than $20 each. I just make sure all engines are placed far enough apart I can remove one without damaging it, or a locomotive on either side of it. I currently have over a hundred HO scale engines stored this way.
 
Mine are in original boxes right now, along with the freight cars they're supposed to be pulling. This is not their rightful place in the world. They should be on the layout, pulling freight, making their railroads money....but my layout building has been postponed for a year.

You can send me any you tire of storing. :)
 
I've got em on the layout, the shelves, in storage containers and in the display case upstairs. Probably close to 200, all with decoders. The ones in the storage containers are much older Athearn locos with decoders but they don't have the details and features of the more modern locos. I'll be giving those to my grandsons soon for them to develop their model handling skills with. Won't matter to me much if they bust em up, but it will be a barometer of when I can let them have access to the more expensive stuff.
 
Like Espeefan, I use storage boxes for the locomotives that see operation on my layout. I use heavy plastic sheets, slightly longer than the locomotives, to lower and remove the locomotives from storage. The plastic sheets help remove the locomotives from the storage boxes and lift them out without doing any damage.

I'm addicted to collecting locomotives and many locomotives remain unopened in their original boxes. These I keep in plastic storage containers that are semi-water proof. Rolling stock is kept in similar containers.

Thanks.

Greg
 
I like the look and function of the Kato train cases (I like the "book" form factor), but they only seem to make them for rolling stock? In particular, I like the Kato F case. Does anyone use these for locos?
 
I do. Check out PlazaJapan on ebay. They sell both the empty plastic boxes and the type 213 green case made for the plastic boxes. I use these excusively for locos. The boxes usually come 5 to a pack, the cases individually, and 7 boxes (locos) fit into a case.

Oh crap!
 
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You could also convert some cassettes to covered storage. Then you wouldn't have to touch the little darlings at all. Just hook up the cassette, apply power and watch them go.
 
What doesn't fit on my layout I either keep them in the original boxes or put them in the A-Line boxes. My custom stuff that doesn't see the layout gets displayed in a cabinet in my living room. It was my moms old China hutch that I converted into a liquor cabinet/display cabinet.
 
Late last year I purchased a two piece 14 drawer tool chest with the slide out drawers of various heights and soft matting. Once I get my disaster area sorted out, my trains will live in that. The cabinet/chest gives me plenty of room for my N Scale and HO Scale trains as well as the things I always need, soldering iron, pliers, gauges, rail joiners etc etc etc. The thing I like about it is it sits (or will sit) beneath my layout with everything in the one place and secure from possible damage.
 
Wall mounted

If you have the blank wall space, you could use organizers to store the locos like I've done. I found some cheap ones that had removable dividers all the way across so that each one makes a continuous shelf all the way across the organizer. Screw them to the wall and voila. You can see from the little bit of another case at the top of the photo that they do have lids that close to keep everything dust-proof while stored. The main thing for me is being able to easily access the N-scale locos without having to take them in and out of the original boxes, which much more often than not have foam inserts that are extremely tight and make it difficult to get the locos in and out without damage. I'm not sure it would work quite as well if they were stacked horizontally instead of being mounted vertically, but it's still an idea.

I also, as you can see, made little info cards with the loco's model number and little side info tabs with DCC info ranging from dummy to analog to DCC ready, and of course the decoder model & address if I've gotten the DCC installed. It's a handy quick reference when I can't quite read a cab number in the middle of the layout and saves me going through my computerized database. It's also easy at a glance to see what locos are ready to go on the DCC layout and which ones are just pretty to look at while they wait to become functional.

I do need to get a larger display case as a one-off (eBay has some nice ones), just because I have a couple things (i.e., Con-Cor Zephyr) that are too long or awkward to fit into those little organizers and would do better in a larger case. For the average loco, though, they work great.

nsher03.jpg
 
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