Long-Term Storage and Display

I too am looking for nice, reasonably priced shelves. I understand railrax is gone, the only alternative I have found is something similar but it is $20 a foot or more. Way over my budget.

For a while a Mr.Muffin had a carpenter working with him and he would build custom wood display cabinets for trains. I don't know if he still does this type of work but it wasn't cheap when I did it and with today's wood prices it will be even more expensive. I bought a display case form this guy and I am very happy with it. It cost $500 but it would have cost me (back then) at least half that in material to build and it would not have been as nice.

A much less expensive way to go will be to buy racks of aluminum shelves and mount them on a wall or the outside of your layout. I bought some of these (Sorry I forget the company who made them) shelves and I believe they cost me a little over $110 for 5 shelves with each one 4 feet long. There are at lest 2-3 companies that make these shelves. I will post the company name tomorrow.

I keep most of my boxes in the garage ceiling or basement ceiling between the floor joists.  I scavenged old wire rack shelving and screwed it to the bottom of the joists.  Then I tuck boxes up between the joists (resting on the wire shelves).  I also put boxes in big trash bags and toss them up in the attic.

As far as train shelves, I would advise building your own shelves out of 1x4’s.  You can customize them to the lengths you need.  I cut grooves in my shelves for the train wheels but in practice the grooves aren’t necessary.  The trains will sit on level shelves without rolling off.  I also have some commercial aluminum shelving sold as train shelves.  Those are very cool but a costly option compared to the DIY solution.

For storage of train boxes in a rental house, consider using the attic. Place the boxes atop low-grade plywood boards you can position over the joists without using screws. Glenn Snyder shelves have replaced the defunct RailRax. For a very low-budget shelving unit, I was rather surprised when someone showed me vertical, painted, stacked cinderblocks used to support multiple boards. The painted blocks did not look as cheap as one might imagine.

If I were doing this, I'd build my own shelves, but then, I do woodworking and have a garage full of tools (too many tools, not enough space...).  As was just mentioned, the Glenn Snyder shelves are a go-to option for a lot of folks on the OGR forum.  I don't recall how much they cost per foot.  If you are looking for something that is both cheap(er) and fast, you could consider looking for a used bookcase or two and then look for some used track on da Bay (or elsewhere).  One advantage of the bookshelf is that most are typically 8 or 9 inches deep, which is enough for a double track.  So you could put some rolling stock or engines on the 'inner track' and the stuff you really want to show off on the 'outer' track...

Gotta love the east coast guys........attic???? basement????....what are those. I lost my first trainset when I was

a kid in the midwest because after a storm one night there was six feet of water in the basement. Attics got

so hot they melted plastic trains. Same in the west except we don't have them.  I have made my own shelves

in the past but living and renting in a senior mobile home park there is not much room for a wood shop.

Thanks for all the info tho, guys.

My response is to the OP.  He doesn't say where he is located.  If you're looking for specifics to your situation, start your own thread.  A wood shop is not necessary to build train shelves.  A circular saw would be helpful but a hand saw will do.  As far as storage, we're storing train boxes here.  No one is suggesting storing trains in an attic nor a wet basement.

I do keep nearly all my train boxes, and definitely all locomotive boxes. Many boxes are stored under the layout, but most are stored in the storage-area-side of our basement (heated/air conditioned/dehumidified. The boxes have come in very handy during moves (not planning any future ones), and especially when selling trains or sending something in for repair.

The very best train display cases I bought are wall-mounted cases obtained from Steve Grimm's Trackside Train Displays in PA. Unfortunately--very unfortunately--he is no longer in business. Those case were beautifully made; available in a variety of scales, sizes, and finishes; and carefully packed for safe shipping. I am delighted that I stumbled upon that website a number of years ago, and just wish I had ordered even more of the wall-mounted case when they were being made.

There are--or at least used to be--several dealers who offered very nice display cases at the York Train Meet (and likely some other meets as well). I will be looking for those folks in Oct. at the next meet because, even though I am virtually out of wall space, I still would like to have a couple more nicely crafted wall cases. . . one for my On30 items and another for some additional O gauge U.S. Army motive power that is currently on preorder.

I've got multiple shelf types on the same wall.

The most expensive is the ballasted oak with acrylic cover.  I made the oak base and had an acrylic fab shop custom make the 5 sided "cube" in 3 sections 17' long...

Below that is the cheapest - it's a wood shelf from Ikea that bolts to the wall and the shelf "slips" onto the pegs so there are no brackets seen.  The nice part about that one is you can put at least two rows of trains.  You might be able to get 3.

In the other photo, a couple are Glenn Snyder shelves and another set of Ikea translucent glass shelves.

The ones from Ikea were the cheapest, easiest, etc.  I suppose I like the glass ones the best, because they are the thinnest, and glass lets some light through.

I keep Train boxes in closets or under the layout. If storage becomes full, my intent is to package the Empty boxes in heavy duty Large Black trash bags and put them in my Condo parking garage basement storage locker. The trains are all kept in climate controlled condo.
Don’t throw away the outer brown shipping boxes !!! These are quite Valuable is you sell items or move. They are for protection for those occasions. What you Must do - for storage space- is cut the taped ends with a box cutter or xacto knife and Fold Flat. Don’t cut the sides. The box will flatten with a little help. Group your boxes by similar sizes (easier to manage) and put (again) into Large Black Trash Bags. Twist tie shut. Store where you like. The bag can be heavy. If you just lift full bag by one hand you will probably break the bag defeating the purpose of keeping them protected. Basements can be damp so you want a good sealed bag. Attics can be tough no matter what you do. They likely will eventually be baked brittle.
Good luck.
You’ll be glad you saved them.  
Cheers !!! 😜

TrainBub - Excellent suggestion regarding the storage of the large outer shipping boxes which otherwise take up a lot of space. 🤔

These are Glenn Snyder shelves.  Dimensionally stable for 12 years now.  I thought I read he passed but his wife carried on the business.  Highly recommended.

Saved train boxes are stored between the joists of my open basement ceiling.    I just sold off about 85 cars and quite a few locomotives that for one reason or other were with out boxes.

Put the Lionel or MTH boxes in the shipping boxes. this take just a little more room than the MTH or Lionel box. Mark the shipping boxes so you do not have to open each one to find out what is inside. Lionel or MTH Part number is good on the shipping box. It may help your relatives when deceased.