Large Scale Central

Transporting to and from Shows/Operating Sessions

General Discussion
#1

I need some suggestions…my New Year’s resolution is to run trains every few weeks out at our layout at the Colorado Railroad Museum. To do this I feel I need a more effective solution for transporting a locomotive and a consist (say, for instance, a three-truck Shay and nine or ten mining ore cars with a caboose on the end) to and from the Museum. I have a Ford Explorer so the vehicle is no problem.

I’m asking for suggestions because when I tried running with our club at a couple of shows (track-on-the-floor kind of shows) transporting was a nightmare for me trying to use a hand truck and plastic tubs and bath towels, etc. It really dampened the fun for me and my young son.

I’m thinking of starting with one of those gardening, yard-style wagons when they come on sale in the spring at the big hardware store or, God help me, Costco.

Two qualifications: (1) I’m not much of a carpenter and I don’t have that kind of time so I can’t really make anything like those beautiful cabinets that Bob Hyman crafted, and (2) I throw all manufacturer foam inserts and boxes out with the trash as soon as I know the stock is working; a times like this I might regret it, but I don’t regret not drowning in a deep lake of empty boxes and weirdly shaped white foam!

Thanks!

#2

A couple of other folks ideas come to mind…

Bruce Chandler has some open racks he built that hold either 4 or 6 cars for transport.

Noel Wilson built roller cabinets for locos and cars to move them from storage to the layout.

But, since you say you don’t have time or skills to build, perhaps Ric Golding’s use of plastic stackable tool boxes from a big box store would work for you.

#3

Thanks Jon…just to let anyone else with suggestions know, I have some basic building skills (one by twos and drywall screws kind of thing), but I’m not on the cabinetmaker level.

p.s…I can tell that I’ll need pictures. I know it takes a lot of time and effort to post pictures, but it would appreciated.

#4

John,

Here’s some ideas for you. I make simple boxes from a sheet of plywood and some 1x12 pine.

hopper cases

These are for longer coaches - they have 2 in each box and stack if I want them to.

coach box

The one’s below are based on Bruce’s design - they are lightweight plywood with redwood strips across. Again, they are all the same size and can be stacked.

light carrier

When I am carrying a steam engine and 3 coach boxes, I take the hand cart and move its handle so it is more like a flat dolly.

#5

I’ll be watching this thread, I too need a better way to schlep my stuff in and out of shows than dumping stuff in bubblewrap into a cardboard records box.

#6

The easiest way without having to build anything is a few Rubbermaid style containers that can be stacked on top of each other and then stack them on a collapsible hand dollies with the large wheels. Carts work but you can’t stack boxes as high. The Rubbermaids are nice because you can get them in all different sizes.

I just use those Rubbermaid containers and carry them in. I dont run long trains so I can get away with a box for my steamer and then another for small rolling stock.

#7

You don’t have to be a carpenter to make these. I used some strips of cedar I had bought from Garden Texture.

I also ordered some thick styrene sheets pre-cut to my specifications from Russ at Tap Plastics. He cut the slots as well

I added some brass pieces at each end to hold the strips in place - they are not shown in this photo

I ended up putting some foam strips on the horizontal pieces to protect the cars a bit.

On both designs, the wheels straddle the center piece and the removable vertical strip holds them in place.

It’s easy enough to carry one of these in each hand, and for storage, they also stack.

#8

Some of the guy’s in our club use a heavy duty tool box for there engines. I use a Aristo Craft live steam engine case someone gave me. Holds three USA GP’s then I have two boxes made out of very thin plywood, they hold six cars each, and stack on top of each other on a four wheel cart.

Don

#9

John, here’s a link to my website. I can make a carrier to fit any engine from a Porter to a BigBoy. Thanks Dan

Dan Patterson
Dan Patterson replied to a topic in the forum Problem Solving:
http://rapdlp1006.wix.com/g-scale-carriers#!b-bio/cy2g

#10

Nice site Dan.

I need to build one to carry my 3 USA streamliner cars to a couple shows.

#11

Oh, you left yourself open on that one

Dan’s carriers are beautiful. I have one I made out of a couple boards and a piece of dowel rod. It works. I set it on the track, put loading rails to the track and roll the loco right off onto the ground.

#12

I tried the plastic tubs with dividers and towels but had poor luck. It has almost pushed me out of the show end of the hobby. My last resort is to make custom foam lined boxes with a space for each car specifically. My locos have separate wood boxes they travel in and have faired quite well once I figured that out. I also have to put them in the back of my truck as the trailer has too much bounce.

Terry

#13

Tom Ruby said:

Oh, you left yourself open on that one

Dan’s carriers are beautiful. I have one I made out of a couple boards and a piece of dowel rod. It works. I set it on the track, put loading rails to the track and roll the loco right off onto the ground.

Ha ha ha…so far I have an Explorer not an Exploder, but it’s a rare (these days) stick shift and I love a stick shift!

Those carriers do look beautiful, but, no offense to Dan I hope, I’d have a really tough time spending as much or half as much money on the carrier than I spent on the locomotive itself.

It sounds like you made your own version.

#14

Thanks everyone. I think I could try my hand at a stick/light sheets (maybe that luan stuff) build like Pete and Bruce have done, and some version of Dan’s boxes for the locomotives. I’m going to keep my eyes open for inexpensive toolboxes for locomotives, too, and it seems they could come in handy for carrying around the extra little stuff as well.

I like the 100-tonners four abreast in that tray. Maybe if I did this right I could get away with a handtruck instead of a wagon. That would be good.

#15

John, lots of good ideas here. For me, the key is to keep the weight down as much as possible - no matter which one you choose. The cars are awkward enough to carry; no need to make it tougher.

#16

John Passaro said:

Thanks everyone. I think I could try my hand at a stick/light sheets (maybe that luan stuff) build like Pete and Bruce have done, and some version of Dan’s boxes for the locomotives. I’m going to keep my eyes open for inexpensive toolboxes for locomotives, too, and it seems they could come in handy for carrying around the extra little stuff as well.

John,

I have a couple of wooden wine crates from the liquor store to carry locomotives. They are a good size for shorter engines, and even a longer one can fit next to the tender. They work out at about 18" inside. Be sure you add wood glue liberally to all the joints, as they are not well fastened together!

Most of my locos are carried in the wooden boxes like the ones I made for the coaches. It’s easy to rip the luan plywood into strips - again, use lots of glue and nail them together. And sand the edges well - you don’t want splinters.
You may not see the center partition to separate the cars - not absolutely necessary if you have foam strips. You can see the white foam sheets that I use to lift the coaches up and out and to protect them when in the box.
I use short strips of wood (1/2" sq or 1/4 round, depends what is lying around the shop,) in the middle to tie all the plywood strips together and give them strength.

You might notice the handholds (holes) in the 1x12 ends. I make them with a ‘forstener’ bit. That’s the 1 1/2" bit used to cut recesses for the hinges in kitchen cabinets. Like a hole saw but much cleaner and easier cut - it works like a rotating chisel!

You will see little brass screw heads in the first photo - they are attachments for small elastic cords to keep things together in the car. (You’ll also see little brackets for aligning them together.) The coach boxes use cabinet hardware to clamp them together for travel. You don’t want the top box slipping sideways and falling on to the equipment in the box below. A better way is the strip of plywood shown in the photo of the lightweight carrier - it ensures the next box goes on top of the one below and not into it!

Making them the same size makes transit and storage easier. But storing 16" freights in 30" coach boxes wasts space, so I do have two sizes. [I actually have about 6 sizes, but that’s just historical accident! Makes it tough to take all at once.]

#17

Hi All,
I don’t post very often, but I wanted to post the pics of the engine carrying cases that I have made and use regularly.
Inside the covers are blocks, foam or borings to accommodate the top irregularities of each engine and hold them in place. I trust that the pics will be self explanatory. I use National brand 2 3/4" folding handles and Rockler draw catches.
Attempted to post pics, but I will need to bring them out of “my pictures” so they can be added to another post.
Bob MacGregor
Central CT G Gaugers Modular Group

#18

How do I get pics from the train shed into a post?

#19

http://www.largescalecentral.com/forums/topic/20241/picture-posting-help-for-rick-ma

#20

Bob MacGregor said:

How do I get pics from the train shed into a post?

Bob, if you follow David Russell’s link ABOVE (edit!) , it explains things well.

I hope you do post some pictures of your boxes; they sound really good and I would like to see them.

Thanks.

p.s. If you get the pictures into the freightshed and then use the insert image button, the pictures will show up in your post as you are making it…that’s how I know when it’s working!