Long term storage

[Woodie]

Guys, (BTW, do we have any Gals in The Gauge???)

As most of you will know, I'm moving off up north, but will be staying with friends until I find a new place to move into.

So everything is going into storage.

Is there a good way of storing locos/rollingstock for periods of time? I don't have the original boxes for most of it, as they went west as a result of Noah's Flood. I'm thinking of individual wrapping in newspaper, and storage in a large cardboard packing box. Anyone see any probs doing it this way?

Taa.

 

[davidstrains]

Woodie,
I have had good luck storing locos in cardboard boxes that have the styrofoam "peanuts" in them for separation. As long as the box is kept in a relatively dry area you should be ok. The locos should also be stored standing upright and not laying on their sides to prevent grease from flowing where it shouldn't.

A little bit of care is all they need to store fo a long time.

 

[DanRaitz]

Woodie,

One thing I have learned is do not store cardboard boxes on the bare concrete floor of a basement. The cardboard tends to suck moisture out of the floor, lost some old magazines that way once. You should at least put a plastic trap under them if possible. The best would be to place them on some pallets.

Dan

 

[rockislandmike]

Yes, send them to me !!!!!

 

[Woodie]

Dan,

I have learnt, just very recently, what water can do to carboard boxes stored under the layout. Not pretty. That's where they all where during Noah's flood (see my water damage thread). (but the boxes was just a place to keep them, not as long term storage). They will be stored away in a specialist storage place along with the rest of the household goods and chattels.

Just having thoughts about the wrapping in newspaper, that the ink might come off over time, and stick to the stock.

 

[Vic]

Hi Woodie, The two things that are most detrimental to locos, cars, and etc when stored are heat and moisture, even high humidity. Once I had to store a great many of my trains for over 5 years. The cars and locos that I did not have boxes for I simply wrapped them in newspaper (much like you would wrap a fish ) and then put them in cartons padded with more newspaper and sealed them up. I always made sure they were in a cool and dry place and when I was finally able to get them out again they were just like the day I put them away.

 

[spitfire]

Originally posted by Woodie
Guys, (BTW, do we have any Gals in The Gauge???)

Woodie - yes we do and you've been talking to one of them for the last few nights in the chat -- me! hehehe

I'll leave it to the rest of the gals here to "out" themselves, but I know of at least 2 more.

cheers mate!
Val

 

[Woodie]

Thanks for that Vic. Storage is not gunna be for much longer the 3 - 6 months. So... looks like the newspaper way, is the way to go. Taa.

 

[Woodie]

Re: Re: Long term storage

Originally posted by spitfire


Woodie - yes we do and you've been talking to one of them for the last few nights in the chat -- me! hehehe

Oh... kewl... strewth, bonzer and by crikey! And a sorta "oooops"

Ms Val? I'm Mr Woodie. **shakes hand** Wanna beer?

 

[Gary Pfeil]

Woodie, I use paper towels rather than newspaper, but it may not make a differance.

 

[Ravensfan]

I'd stay away from the peanuts and paper towels - more likely to get dust from them than newspaper. You may also want to consider getting the sturdy plastic storage containers - once used and not needed anymore, you can stack them nicely into each other and they don't take up much space. They are relatively inexpensive.

 

[jon-monon]

I do as Rav suggests and use plastic storage containers (tupperware to most Gringo's). I use the type that is about as big as the biggest in the store, except they are only about 6" deep, so everything is one layer. Instead of digging down, you just pull off one container to get to the next. They are also clear, so I can see in. I use foam rubber cut into about 2 X 2" strips between locos, or small bubble type bubble pack. Lubrication, which you just did after the flood, is a good idea. The plastic offers reasonable protection in case the rainbow promise fails and we get flooded again. At least try to get two of each type of loco into a plastic container Another thot: Going off to a storage area, I would tape the containers closed, but not sealed air tight, and I would not want them to be able to see into the container.

 

[farmer ron]

Woodie, do you know anyone that is a welder? A friend of mine uses the plastic boxes that welding rods come in, they are about 2 inches sqare and about 12 inches long with a cap on one end.. He wraps his engines in paper towels then slides them in the boxes, adds extra paper towels for packing the ends and sides so the engine does not move around, tapes the end cap shut with masking tape, then puts them into a large plastic container. He has moved a couple of times without any damage. Just a thought Ron....

 

[jon-monon]

Ron, that would make for some sturdy packing for sure! I would drill a hole or two in it, as we don't want to seal moisture in. Those are air tight, to keep moisture out of the dry welding rods.

 

[aartwmich]

'Nother Gauge Gal raises her hand! Hi Woodie Good Luck packin'!!

 

[Railery]

Hi Woodie, alot of good comments for ya. i have had my layout stored for a year now and i used those big plastic containers u can buy at Home Depot, Walmart etc. U should be able to get them cheap. i used 20 of them for the layout and they are stackable. i kept all my boxes so that helped but the models that were built i used peanuts to go around them and just kept adding the models and peanuts until the container was full. They are great. Boxes can become damp and crushed. But these plastic tubs are the cats' u know what.