Train storage systems? How do you store or display your spares?

[dr_spock]

Brilliant solution with the cardboard guides!

Thanks. It is a low to no-cost solution.

My solution, keep them all in a train yard on your layout

You have an understanding wife.

[Legoboy22]

Thanks. It is a low to no-cost solution.

You have an understanding wife.

very true

[Dread Pirate Rob]

I eventually had to invest in a glass cabinet. Trains get the top shelf. The nice thing about one of these is that I can store up to five short trains per shelf and rotate them to the front for display when I do not have a layout up. Yes, I bought the blue jet for the parts to make a dark blue tank engine, but it is too nice and I haven't been able to bring myself to pull it apart yet:)

[Chilis]

The ones build but not on tracks a put in shelves on the wall as seen on the picture. They are from IKEA;

[codefox421]

I was looking for a way to both store my trains and transport them safely.

Living in an apartment, I am a bit strapped for space and wanted to make my girlfriend happy by putting the trains away from time to time.

LEGO Train Storage and Transportation by Nick Iaconis, on Flickr

I settled on a travel case from HPRC.

LEGO Train Storage and Transportation by Nick Iaconis, on Flickr

The top layer contains my modified Emerald Night with its LiPo charging supplies and my British Railways Mark 1.

I plan to fill the middle with more rolling stock whenever I get around to building them.

LEGO Train Storage and Transportation by Nick Iaconis, on Flickr

Pulling out the top layer by the red shoe laces reveals the bottom layer where I store my double (or should I say complete) Horizon Express.

Edited August 15, 2015 by codefox421

[bjorkan]

I was looking for a way to both store my trains and transport them safely. Living in an apartment, I am a bit strapped for space and wanted to make my girlfriend happy by putting the trains away from time to time.

LEGO Train Storage and Transportation by Nick Iaconis, on Flickr

I settled on a travel case from HPRC.

LEGO Train Storage and Transportation by Nick Iaconis, on Flickr

The top layer contains my modified Emerald Night with its LiPo charging supplies and my British Railways Mark 1.

I plan to fill the middle with more rolling stock whenever I get around to building them. LEGO Train Storage and Transportation by Nick Iaconis, on Flickr Pulling out the top layer by the red shoe laces reveals the bottom layer where I store my double (or should I say complete) Horizon Express.

x 1000 I like it, and on the first picture I was thinking it is a joke, looks more like weapon storage m.

[zephyr1934]

Oh wow, codefox, that case looks bomb proof (hopefully it is somewhat girlfriend proof too, grin). I'm a lot more casual about storing or shipping my trains. Most of my builds are fairly sturdy and for these I've found the lego to be very robust. Here's a typical load after a big show,

I use almost exclusively copy paper boxes with up to 32 stud cars fitting 12 to a box, 24 stud cars fitting 20 to a box, up to 52 stud cars 10 to a box. A little packing bubbles between layers and in voids and off to a bumpy ride in my car. I used to try to perfectly fit the cars in the boxes before the show but that always made packing difficult at the end, so now I try to have 0.5-1 box worth of extra capacity so I don't have to worry about being precise in my packing. Some of my larger trains get a box of their own (e.g., the Superliners, the North Coast Limited, and the Empire Builder), the rest, well however it fits. Once home most of the trains then just go on a shelf in the same copy paper box. I've taken to bagging some of my recent builds before putting them in a box because there are a few small parts that really want to fall off and this way they won't wander far. A few of the other cars will always drop off a little bit of the undercarriage, but that quickly goes back on. Only the steam engines get special treatment (notice the plastic tub on the left of the cart), these have a lot of small parts so this way if something does fall off it can't get too lost. For my more delicate steam locomotives I've built football helmets to protect their noses. Still, I don't feel comfortable packing these in the club trailer where they will have to survive sliding around or being crunched by a few hundred pounds of tables (here's one of the other club members rebuilding before a show after a particularly rough trailer ride)

[AirborneAFOL]

The case is fanastic. Brilliant approach for keeping it clean, safe, and easy to transport. I think the only downside is there's no "display" ability.

Now... I only wonder if my wife will let me put my shotgun on the fireplace mantle, and my trains in the case... ;)

[bjorkan]

Finally my Lego Train Display is finished and I now can clearly see all trains. The only problem is that there is not enough place, will have to order another one m.

(the same photo in hi-res)

[tiggrlee]

New member here.

Here in the ‘states’ they make a cardboard box to fit a row of Baseball trading cards in. It measures about 3” x 4” by 15” long. I just put in a layer of bubble wrap on the bottom … lay the train in on its side … one more narrow layer of bubble wrap and it is good to go. Stick a sticker on the end of what ‘model’ it is … and slide it on the top layer of the bedroom closet. Now … some ‘models’ have ‘extra’ pieces on its top … sometimes I have to remove them to fit into the box … and sometimes removing the wheel sets ( plenty of room at each end of the box to put them in ). The top shelf of my bedroom closet is filled with trains and cars …

LEE ( I will take some pictures tomorrow showing the box and the train in it and will post it )

[tiggrlee]

Sorry for the lateness with a follow-up ... life got busy for a while.

Here are two pictures ... showing the box I was telling you about. The 'inside' dimensions are ... 4 inches wide ... 2 5/8 inches deep ... 14 1/2 inches wide. If it is more than a bit tight ... you can take the 'wheel sets' off and store them at either end. Now it was not a problem at all with my 9v trains ... I now am converting ... and noticed one small problem ... 9v was a piece of cake ... you just pop off motor and wheel sets ... now ... with PF system ... your wheel set is physically attached via the power cord ... that might make it tricky in the future. Below are two pictures of the box I was telling you about ...

LEE

[Carefree_Dude]

Sorry to bump an old post, but what's a good solution for long term storage? I have to pack them up and likely won't be able to bring them out again for several months to a year or two. I'm thinking plastic shoe boxes stacked inside of large plastic storage boxes. Any tips on sizes and such? I also need to store all my modular buildings. 

[peterab]

7 hours ago, Goldenmasamune said:

Sorry to bump an old post, but what's a good solution for long term storage? I have to pack them up and likely won't be able to bring them out again for several months to a year or two. I'm thinking plastic shoe boxes stacked inside of large plastic storage boxes. Any tips on sizes and such? I also need to store all my modular buildings. 

I just use plastic storage boxes for my MOCs. I buy the short ones which fit five long passenger cars or up to 10 shorter freight cars standing upright next to each other. You would probably fit about 10 official LEGO cars in each. If you were really paranoid you could wrap each car in bubble wrap, but I've found most cars without too many greebles are fine without.

Mine live in them permanently and the only issue I've had is when they were stored in a hot trailer. Avoid temperatures above about 30 degrees Celsius. For long term storage remember to remove any batteries.

[Carefree_Dude]

7 hours ago, peterab said:

I just use plastic storage boxes for my MOCs. I buy the short ones which fit five long passenger cars or up to 10 shorter freight cars standing upright next to each other. You would probably fit about 10 official LEGO cars in each. If you were really paranoid you could wrap each car in bubble wrap, but I've found most cars without too many greebles are fine without.

Mine live in them permanently and the only issue I've had is when they were stored in a hot trailer. Avoid temperatures above about 30 degrees Celsius. For long term storage remember to remove any batteries.

Which plastic storage box do you use?

[TCRR Constitution]

I simply put mine in a shelf. People can see them clearly and I can take them for a spin from time to time.?

[Carefree_Dude]

18 minutes ago, TCRR Constitution said:

I simply put mine in a shelf. People can see them clearly and I can take them for a spin from time to time.?

Part of my problem is that my wife has her friend over a lot, with a three year old daughter that enjoys pulling them off the shelf and smashing them. 

[TCRR Constitution]

I then recommend putting them in boxes and simply putting them in and labeling the boxes. Or put them on a very tall shelf. I have the same problem with 4 kids that are less than 4.

1 hour ago, Goldenmasamune said:

Part of my problem is that my wife has her friend over a lot, with a three year old daughter that enjoys pulling them off the shelf and smashing them. 

 

[dr_spock]

18 hours ago, Goldenmasamune said:

Part of my problem is that my wife has her friend over a lot, with a three year old daughter that enjoys pulling them off the shelf and smashing them. 

You could put them higher up unless she is a climber like mine.  Or maybe give her some other trains to smash. 

 

[Carefree_Dude]

5 hours ago, dr_spock said:

You could put them higher up unless she is a climber like mine.  Or maybe give her some other trains to smash. 

 

I tried that only for the ladies to pull them down for her

[TCRR Constitution]

Hide them. :/ simple but works.

[Carefree_Dude]

8 minutes ago, TCRR Constitution said:

Hide them. :/ simple but works.

The idea is to just put them away for now in storage containers.  We currently live in a tiny studio apartment, and our storage space is extremely limited. We will likely move in the next few months anyways

[Dan-147]

Hate to say this but...

This is LEGO. It's supposed to be a kid's toy. As long as the kid doesn't put the bricks in her mouth, everything's fine. Just document your build with LDraw, LDD or Stud.io so you can rebuild it after. I know this is hard for us AFOLs but the beauty of LEGO is that it can be put together after it is smashed.

Dan-147

[Capparezza]

Has anybody experience with long term storage of LEGO trains on their own axles? I'm worrying about damage to the axles (be it old metal axles or newer Technic ones) in the long run, bending and such... or is this a non-issue?

[TCRR Constitution]

My wacky simple train has been in storage for 6 months now. Just the axles are dusty. No damage.

[TCRR Constitution]

17 hours ago, Goldenmasamune said:

I tried that only for the ladies to pull them down for her

Same with my family. R.I.P. Emerald Night. When family comes over I put them in boxes and lock them in my room.