Locomotive Storage and Transport

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Old Man Aaron
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Locomotive Storage and Transport

Post by Old Man Aaron » Tue Apr 21, 2020 2:27 pm

Thought I'd share something that may be of use to others.

I used to carry my Ruby in a padded safe case with a perforated foam insert, cut out to match the loco's shape. Relying on public transport, I need to give more thought than many to protecting my locos and stock when visiting other lines. The loco was also often kept in this box for months between runs. However, the box (and therefore the loco) was often stored on it's side. This being an Accucraft loco, the foam quickly became saturated in residual steam oil seeping from the cylinders, which over time spread throughout the sides of the box. Having to wipe down the loco every time it was taken out was a mild annoyance, but it helped keep it's (at the time) gloss paintwork shiny. After about five years of this, I grew tired of living with this box and loco's foibles, and set about improving things.
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Rebuilding the loco was another mess entirely, that I won't bore you with.
A proper roll-on/off carrier was made to fit a new box. Mini bungee straps hold the loco in place, with clean soft rags to protect the paintwork. I think this is the way to go, for me, as the oil stays around the bottom of the cylinders and away from the weathered finish. It also means far less handling of the loco, reducing the chance of damage, and frequency of touch-ups.
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The box is a steel "ammo" style toolbox. The lettering isn't perfect, but this box made good practice fodder for signwriting more critical things, for example, that pub in the background.
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The carrier is 6mm MDF with 10mm pine uprights, with coffee stirrers for rails. Thick coats of enamel paint protect it all from errant water and oil. Excuse the chip in the paint, I had to slightly shorten the rail, so the loading ramp would fit. A pair of M3 screws act as locators for the ramp.
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The ramp was fabricated from aluminium bar and sheet. Countersunk M2 screws, loctited and reinforced with a bit of JB Weld.
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Only coupling faces need be touched to set out a steamer, and battery locos can simply be switched on and driven away.
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Any locos lacking the structural fortitude over which to wrap bungee straps, are retained via picture hooks and stout rubber bands. Conveniently, those locos are all battery-powered, and their gearing prevents them rolling about - so in their cases, the rubber bands are only there to keep them on the rails.
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A large toolbox has more recently been bought and repainted - wasn't a fan of the blue, and still waiting on a proper metal handle in the mail. Some more carriers were made for battery locos either on order, in the works, or on the drafting table. These boxes will also need lettering at some point, now that I think of it..
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The jury's still out on weather or not to do something similar for the growing roster of wagons - I'll certainly have to for my planned rake of thirty sugarcane trucks!


Regards,
Aaron
Regards,
Aaron - Scum Class Works

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Re: Locomotive Storage and Transport

Post by GTB » Wed Apr 22, 2020 3:58 pm

Old Man Aaron wrote: Tue Apr 21, 2020 2:27 pm The jury's still out on weather or not to do something similar for the growing roster of wagons - I'll certainly have to for my planned rake of thirty sugarcane trucks!
Having to transport locos to another track is enough of a pain with the car, I can't imagine what it would be like on public transport. Interesting solution to the problem.

I like working with wood, so make my own loco transport and storage cases. Solid wood for steam locos, ply for light battery powered locos and railcars.

Are the red rubber bands in the photo the type Auspost use? I used them for holding light models in place for transport when I first started in this scale, but found they rapidly gave up the ghost and broke, in one case during transport. I now use padded wooden clamps to hold locos in place in the case.

My own solution for storing and carrying rolling stock is to make compartmented trays out of plywood, designed to be stackable so they take up less room at home. The compartments are lined with felt and don't need any sort of clamp.

Regards,
Graeme

ps. I like the reworked Ruby. Oily little devils though......... :roll:

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Old Man Aaron
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Re: Locomotive Storage and Transport

Post by Old Man Aaron » Thu Apr 23, 2020 12:58 pm

Aye, those very same rubber bands. Ended up buying a minimum-quantity packet, which is still five-hundred of the things.. Thanks for the "heads up", I'll be sure to keep an eye on them and change methods if needed..

For now, my stock is carried (carefully padded with old t-shirts or egg-shell foam) in shoe boxes, or made-to-fit cardboard affairs, cut-and-shut from larger boxes. Looks awful, but they can be stacked in any configuration (even upside down) to fit inside an airport-style wheelie-bag. The latter making things relatively painless to move around. It's an interim measure, with the longer-term plan being proper wooden jobs like yours, which I must say are extremely nice.

Thanks, it's taken far too much work, but it's a good loco now. Aye, particularly oily - I've tried restricting the flow of oil from the lubricator with a piece of armature wire bent into the pin-hole, to surprisingly little effect. I could replace the lubricator, but then I only got the loco back together a couple of months ago..

Regards,
Aaron
Regards,
Aaron - Scum Class Works

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Re: Locomotive Storage and Transport

Post by Andrew » Thu Apr 23, 2020 8:26 pm

Those are fantastic - and the lettering's really smart, I'm very impressed.

Nice looking loco too...

I need to sort out better storage for my stock, instead of just building more...

Cheers,

Andrew.

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Old Man Aaron
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Re: Locomotive Storage and Transport

Post by Old Man Aaron » Mon May 11, 2020 2:49 am

Andrew wrote: Thu Apr 23, 2020 8:26 pm I need to sort out better storage for my stock, instead of just building more...

I'm also guilty of that one. :roll:
Regards,
Aaron - Scum Class Works

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