Keith's HO Rolling Stock Trays

If you’re like me, a lot of the time the excitement of getting a new piece of rolling stock overwhelms the wisdom to keep the box that it came in; hence, a yard full of rolling stock, and three boxes! Or sometimes at a show, you buy a car from a vendor that has rolling stock for without its’ original box – then what?

Today we have a guest author with the answer: my dad, Keith. Here’s his article about rolling stock storage trays made from pop can trays. Also, a shout-out to any OSHOME members who read this – you know who you are!

Cheers,

Peter.

Photo 1: All filled up and ready to go. I prefer boxes with handle holes (I glue the flap back on the inside). The 24 x 355 ml pop can trays are ideally sized in that they fit inside standard 5000-sheet computer paper boxes.

Photo 2: Due to the dividers, rolling stock is protected from damage when the trays are stacked.

Photo 3: Spacing of the dividers can be varied to accommodate taller rolling stock.

Photo 4: Shorter cars can be coupled to help restrict movement. Probably should do so!

Photo 5: Orientation of the dividers can be altered. I line the bottom of the tray with thin foam sheet - typically included in ‘easy to assemble’ type furniture packing - using contact cement.

Assembly of the trays is not at all complicated, but here are a couple of helpful hints. Cut intermediate strips from straight as possible cardboard, with the corrugations lengthwise, exactly 2” wide. Make sure you have a flat, solid surface to begin assembly on. Use stacked pieces of 1 x 3 pine wood to space, align and keep the ribs perpendicular with a couple of dabs of white glue along the base – try not to secure the 1 x 3’s! (use 1 x 2’s or whatever width necessary to achieve the desired spacing) Once all of the ribs have been ‘tacked’ in place I use a couple of long woodworking clamps and 1 x 3’s to gently compress the ends perpendicular to the ribs. Once everything is tacked, I run a small bead of glue along the entire base length of the ribs on both sides and ends. A further benefit of having the trays for us is that we can pre-fill them with sale items to quickly deploy at the various shows and flea markets we participate in. Clean up at the end of the show is also improved.