Skip to main content

So after a 6 year stint in Orlando, packing up the family and heading back North to my hometown of Cincinnati.

I only just got back into trains this year (kind of a quarantine experiment that grew) so I don't have a lot of stuff, but it still stinks having to pack everything up knowing it'll be a while before those boxes are opened again.

I'll be working on a full basement layout with my dad at his place when we get settled, but it struck me that yet another limitation of this hobby is that it's so *permanent* in many cases.  Sure, things can be broken down and moved, but it's not like R/C cars or planes or fireworks or painting where the implements of the hobby are mobile by design.

Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Look into how folks design for shows;

module layouts- some can even be assembled with modules in different positions. They bolt or clamp together, busses with plugs carry power, legs fold up flat, terminal strips, fahnstock or "speaker push terminals" for accessories that need to come off for transport. Holes/wells fopr poles, etc.etc

The car, loco, sets and their carry cases are interesting too. 

  It doesn't cut the bulk much , but it does make it far more portable.

 

When the wife & I moved in 2006, (after 30 years in our house) I proudly declared that everyone should move every 10 years.  And that statement came from my mouth because I had to ditch all the useless junk I had squirreled away. And after 14 years in this location, the thought of moving again doesn't sound real good anymore.    Jeff, I'm sorry you have to move but I hope everything works out well for you.  As was stated previously, protect the trains.  Moving can be stressful.  But, many times better things can lie ahead.  

The wife & I moved into a townhouse and the basement just doesn't offer enough room for an O scale layout.   Our daughter, who lives 5 miles away,  has a large basement.....hmmm.  

If your trains hold value to you, be careful even with "professional" movers. Thefts happen, and movers don't necessarily care about damage when they're trying to fill cubic capacity on a truck.

I've moved cross-country twice and avoided the cost and questionable care of "professional" movers for most things. Trains and valuables are carefully packed, the boxes made trackable but not obvious as to their contents, and are among the first things loaded -- which puts them at the front of the cargo area and impossible to get to without taking everything else out.

If your stuff has to park for a while, professional moving companies will unload your stuff from the truck/trailer and pack it in a warehouse. Which leaves more opportunities for damage or loss.

On my current move, everything we didn't take with us and store ourselves is in moving pods -- the containers you load (or have loaded) and then lock with your own lock, at which point they're either transported to your new location or put wholly, still locked with your own lock, into climate-controlled storage until you call for delivery. My trains are packed safely and buried up in the front of one of those pods, safe from damage and thieves. I wouldn't have that kind of security with a "professional" moving company.

Moving companies are insured, which sounds great, but all it means is that when they lose or damage stuff, the insurance hands you money up to their limitation of liability. That's often insufficient, but you may not find out until it's too late.

If you can't keep valuables with you and may have to store them, I'd highly recommend at least packing them yourself and then loading/storing them with a good container pod-style provider. Much like with the big freight shipping containers, you retain more control over loading and access, and they can be stored safely as self-contained units.

We moved out of her home about 3 years ago.   I'm still kicking myself for leaving. Anyhow, we were supposed to be in a rental for about two months, and it's going on three years!  Just can't seem to find a place to call home. Especially now with all this stuff going on seems like there's nothing on the market.  All my stuff has been in storage for the three years we've been here, and I've collected quite a sizable load in the meantime.  Definitely going to build the new layout, hopefully soon, with a more modular style.  My last layout went in the garbage when we left. 

Did I mention I'm still kicking myself for moving??  😀

Jeff, I wish you all the best in moving back to Cincinnati!!  We have moved 7 times in our 36 years of marriage; 9 years in this house has been the longest.  I built modules and made two moves with them before abandoning the modules.  As for models, engines, cars, and buildings, I packed them myself for all moves and it worked out fine for us.  Since moving to this house in 2011, I switched to O gauge from HO and have accumulated a lot more.  IF all goes as planned, we will move once more into a house without stairs.  I will definitely pack and move all the trains and buildings myself.  That is the reason I have kept all the boxes for engines and cars.

It sounds like a good plan to work on a layout with your dad at his house until you are well settled in.  

Last edited by Mark Boyce

Spent 20 years in the USAF.  Moved 8 times.  Thought my 2nd career would be more stable, but my emoyer had other plans and moved from GA to TX.  Plan to move again in another 5 years when I retire for good and my last is out of high school.  I decided all the moving wasn't going to stop my train hobby anymore.  As Mark said, trains and buildings move just fine.  Layouts not so much.  I keep my layout plans modest and use the move as motivation to start a new adventure!

Thanks guys.  I've packed all the trains by myself, everything well secured in boxes.  We're hiring people to load / unload our truck, but I'll be driving the truck myself direct to our new destination.  Even so, there's only a few pieces that I would say I'd be heartbroken to lose (mostly the stuff I've posted on here as I rebuilt / reconditioned it).  Either way, I was legitimately shocked at how much train stuff I've accumulated in this short time.  But buying most of it as junk and restoring / refinishing it has brought me lots of at-home entertainment that I'm grateful for.

I don't enjoy renting...we rented this place for 6 years and it never felt like home.  And I'll be renting for the foreseeable future (I'm a business owner of a very capital intensive operation, and this early in the life of the company we are simply not posting any profits at all.  Nobody is lending to entrepreneurs who don't also have a cadre of additional collateral...)

So dads place it is!

My layout has accompanied us on three interstate moves.  Each time I have boxed every piece of rolling stock, engine and building.  All wiring from the layout to my control panel and between sections of the layout has been labeled to ease reconnection once the sections are reassembled in our new location.  While I’ve allowed the movers to handle our household goods, I have always rented a truck and moved the layout and all the boxed trains and buildings myself.  I will admit to being fortunate to have had an employer who covered the extra cost of the rental truck.

Once settled in the new house and with a little preparation in advance, I have had the layout reassembled with wiring reconnected and a train running within four to five hours.

Unboxing everything obviously takes more time but, opening a box and removing an engine or piece of rolling stock is like Christmas morning all over again.  😉

Curt

 

The next time I move, I may follow a long-ago neighbor's joking advice.................

Drag all of your accumulated junk out to the driveway, and make two piles.  One pile of stuff you want to keep.  The other pile of stuff you want to get rid of.

Then throw a match on BOTH piles.  

I dunno, but the older I get, the more merit that idea seems to have. 

Best of luck with your move, But consider yourself very lucky. I spent 17 years in the Navy and moved every 2 - 3 years. I did most of the moves myself. I got married around the 9 1/2 year mark and moved 5 times by the time it was all over. 

It's never fun. But always lets you start a new adventure. We hope this is our forever home unless we come into a large sum of money lol. This area is the worst I have ever been in for mail service ( packages ) once they get to Atlanta it appears they bounce back and forth between to facilities and take 3 to 7 days to get them from the time they get there. 

 

My parents moved from my childhood home when I got out of high school. I was going to a local college so I moved with them. After 20 years in one house we needed a 40' moving van, 20' rental truck and countless car loads. Thankfully it was a local move. We even moved some trash bags that we full of trash, they got mixed up with bags of good stuff.
I had a large HO layout at the time that I dismantled down to movable sections with the intent to rebuild in our new house. Never rebuilt the layout but we moved the stuff anyway.
PODS are a good option for keeping your valuables (trains), more secure.  Most rental companies do one-way rentals too if you want to drive a truck from Florida to Ohio.

Good luck with the move Jeff.

Bob

I moved 4 times as a kid and 9 times for work and an adult.  I knew in my job moving would be required and stated my PORTABLE layout in Kingston Jamaica.  It has been moved 5 times.  So the layout was made for use on the floor in first 2 and later 3 sections, size to go thru doors and up steps) that fit in a large mattress boxes.   It pays if you can plan ahead.

Moving is often a matter of life.  Both of my adult children have moved in the last two year in the same city, keeping the same jobs and school districts.

Charlie

Last edited by Choo Choo Charlie

Best of luck with your move, But consider yourself very lucky. I spent 17 years in the Navy and moved every 2 - 3 years. I did most of the moves myself. I got married around the 9 1/2 year mark and moved 5 times by the time it was all over. 

It's never fun. But always lets you start a new adventure. We hope this is our forever home unless we come into a large sum of money lol. This area is the worst I have ever been in for mail service ( packages ) once they get to Atlanta it appears they bounce back and forth between to facilities and take 3 to 7 days to get them from the time they get there. 

 

Sometimes when I read a post on here, I don't even notice who the OP is, including this case. But as soon as I saw "...area is the worst I have ever been in for mail service (packages)...", I knew immediately who the author was (is). Think of it this way Bill, Life is like a box of chocolates, and you never know when they will show up!!!

My layout, while designed to be taken apart, wasn't really designed to be salvaged.  So down it came:

And away it went:

KGBD 050320 [6)

Rusty

Rusty, That may be the case with my current layout.  It is built in sections to be taken apart, but as much trouble as I have matching up the track for the lift-out bridge, I just built the track right over the joints between the benchwork sections.  I thought of putting in junction terminals or plugs for the wiring, but decided against it.  If I salvage any of it for another layout, I'll just cut the track and wires.  I learn things on every layout build, that I want to do differently on the next layout, so I'll probably want to start fresh again.

Add Reply

Post

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×