What did you do with your layout/trains in the process of moving to a new home?

First off, congratulations on your move.  May all your dreams come true and any challenges be small ones.

We moved about a year and half ago, actually two moves as we waited for our new house.  Not exactly similar circumstances to yours in that my old layout was not mobile, so I had to break it down.  I too had family and friends to store all my trains, buildings, electronics and lumber until we completed our moves and that was a big help!

Only advice I have is to wrap everything carefully.  If you have original boxes use those, otherwise get some bubble wrap or other packing materials for any individual items.  Takes time but well worth it when ready to unpack.

Not sure if moisture will be an issue for you but you could always put items in large plastic bags.  Even heavy-duty trash bags will do - just seal them up with tape.  You could place your train table under a tarp or even wrap it in plastic if any concerns there.

Best of luck!

You might be able to get a couple mattress bags to slip around it and store it. Even though you garage is not climate controlled, there is more protection than being stored unprotected.

Good luck with the move.

I haven't done this in many years but....

When I was in HO, we sold the family home to a developer (lots of land to build a new house) who wasted no time bulldozing the house for new construction. Land is the selling point here (not as much open fields, etc here in ex-horse country as there used to be)! As far as I know the layout was bulldozed in the process. Took a few engines and left everything else as is on the layout - buildings, cars, scenery, etc.

Moved out of the bulldozed house into a temporary rental. No permanent layout, just some track on the carpet. I really didn't have much back then and one or two plastic tubs was enough to store it all.

Moved across the street from the temporary rental into the current compound and basically just tossed it all into a box and walked it across the street.

I'm planning moving this year after 14 years in the current house. Given the layout, dozens of shelves on the walls, 50+ high-end O Gauge locos, G Gauge, HO, N, Books, etc, this will be a feat. I may sell a lot of stuff, I don't know until the legal process is done and new residence paid for.

We moved 45 miles about 18 months ago.  The 9'x13' layout was "deconstructed" (a Sawz-All can be a thing of beauty unless its ripping apart a well-constructed layout).  The new train room is 10'x12' and is now the site of my in-progress layout.

I sold about 25% of my reasonably extensive collection (quite a bit of PostWar + modern) before the move.  The remaining came with me - each piece wrapped in a high-quality bubble wrap and placed in 18"x18" boxes (many, many boxes).  I moved all the trains myself.  I also had finished wood display cases inside the old house for the PostWar which were moved by a contractor friend and me to our new garage (we live in a beach community in California so "climate control" is done by mother nature) where the PW collection now comfortably resides.

Moving trains is W-O-R-K.  Moving a layout is MORE work.  I would certainly invest in protective wrapping / bubble wrap material that would completely wrap your layout.  Something 5'x5' (or whatever), heavy and rather awkwardly shaped has to be moved carefully - preferably with 2-3 others helping.  Personally, I would remove all plastic items (e.g., switch controllers) as they may get broken.

Good luck.  

I had to tear mine down last August. We moved it all into a climate controlled storage unit and we are currently in an apartment searching for our new home which sucks!           (Sounds like some of you know exactly what I'm talking about) ..  Depending how much sentimental value it has, and how much work you want to do.  I would personally pack everything up and tear the table down. Chances are you're going to want to do something different in a different sized space when you do move.  

Remove viable materials-BOX IT UP

Sawzall wood-put out for trash pick up

Call it a day

Nick

I moved a large layout that did not have the scenery done yet.   I had built in modules in case I had to move it, but it was a waste of time.  I took all the track off and stored it.  All the modules were put in a storage unit and stacked up against the wall.  The layout was about 36 by 24 feet.  I stored all the engines and cars in their original boxes and put them in the storage unit too.  The storage unit was not temperature controlled.  They were stored from August till January in northern IL.  So they went through temperatures ranging from a humid 90 plus degrees to below zero.

I had no damage of any kind.  Maybe I was just lucky?  I brought the engines and cars over and stored them in my basement after that time.  The modules were in the storage unit for over two years.

I wish you the best.  Based on my experience, I wouldn't spend a lot of extra money to protect your trains.  Just use the normal cautions and go for it.

Oh I forgot to mention, we had sold our house in three days, had to move in order to accept the offer in 10 days.  So I didn't have a lot of time to worry about it.  I didn't overthink it and it worked out fine.

Art

rockstars1989 posted:

Remove viable materials-BOX IT UP

Sawzall wood-put out for trash pick up

Call it a day

Nick

That pretty much covers it. A former friend and fellow modeler, who lived near by, with a VERY LARGE 3-Rail Hi-Rail layout in the downstairs "walk-out", decided to move to Florida. His house was pretty large, in a semi-gated community, as was worth about one million dollars. He tried to sell it with the "model railroad included". No go! So, after about 2 or 3 months, he had a huge dumpster delivered to the rear of the house, and after salvaging buildings, some scenery, some track & turnouts, and all the electronics controlling the layout, it all went into the dumpster! 

When it come time for us to move out of our house, I'm pretty sure we'll have to do the same thing, i.e. save the buildings, and saw-z-all the whole thing, and throw it out the upstairs windows into a dumpster below. I do have a friend that has expressed an interest in "purchasing" the layout, but getting it out from up-stairs will be some job.

JD,

   We just moved into our new home less than 3 months ago.  I moved almost every bit of my O Gauge Train layout in my Ford Expedition making numerous trips, prior to having the movers do their contacted moving work.    Although I am no where near done building my new Train Room, I know where most everything is as I need it.  My biggest recommendation is to label everything prior to your move, so that you have a good idea as to what is exactly in each and every container/box.  The more you have the more identification is required.  Some of my boxes were not identified correctly, this was definitely a mistake.  I recommend plastic boxes, not card board for transporting everything that has to due with your Trains. Sort your boxes out into different areas, I used Engines , Rolling Stock, Platform/ houses and Hardware as my main Sorting/Staging Categories and stacked them in that manner for easy access, while building.  

Prior to starting any unpacking make sure you have all of your Hand & Power tools available in your new home.

Install all new Breakers, Plugs and Switches in your new home prior to unpacking your trains.  This makes building your layout a lot easier.

Good luck with your move!

PCRR/Dave

Though my layout is far from "done", whatever that means, I dread being put in this situation. Though I don't have any plans to move anytime soon, the thought has crossed my mind if better opportunities arise. The train room contain would most definitely be the most difficult to move. 

A lot of lumber was brought up my stairs into the bonus room and I'm thinking of adding to that by extending the layout into the adjacent room. 

I would imagine, I would take all engines, rolling stock, accessories, and structures. I would probably get rid of bench work depending on how far the move was and the space I had in the new location. I would most likely have a train buddy of mines help with packing up things. 

I would not attempt to move, voluntarily,  unless I knew that I was going to have a more ideal location for train room construction and I believe this would be bitter sweet but at the same time exciting.

Best Wishes,

Dave

My layout 5x12 right now is going to be a part of a bigger layout when the time comes. If and when I move the layout has been made portable as possible. Two managable sections that go together and come apart easily. All buildings and accessories made to come off with ease. Only thing on the boards will be track and scenery. Just tip then on there sides and two guys can load in a trailer to the new place. The controls are on a seperate stand witch will get wheels on it when the time comes to move it. Made two many of the common layout mistakes in ho and nscale back in the day. Threw two much lumber and track away. Now its only modular or managable scetions that can be set up together to make one large layout. That is movable from place to place for me. As for my rolling stock and especially my engines. I have the oscale hauler boxes and am now buying baseball card boxes that will hold my engines for the move. 3 advantages to these type of boxes. 1) putting them in these boxes is much simpler and easier than back in the original boxes.)2 they protect the engines with out breaking off the small detail parts. 3)If i take some to a club or friends house they make transporting a few engines at a time easy peasy. Also the advantage of moduals if not made two wide is the depth. Easy to get to all the track when its time to clean it. No more large tables with unreachable track in the center thats hard to get two. Planning ahead is alway key. Tacking ones time and thinking  it through and spending a little more money and time on the front end. Especilly one the bechwork and electrical connections aspect. Then it will be easier on the back end. 

We moved last May.  I had an 18' x 10' layout in the basement.  Because we built the retirement home, I knew where we were headed.  That made things much easier.  What I did prior to the move:

1. Made sure I had all my lessons learned recorded.  Did a last walk through the layout noting problem areas.
2. Inventoried everything and packed engines, cars, accessories, transformers, etc. into their original boxes.
3. Put original boxes into numbered plastic bins (with lids).  Made an inventory list for each bin and put a copy in the bin. Taped down the lids.
4. 
5. I had decided to save the track, turnouts, Vinylbed roadbed, switch machines, terminal strips, and accessories.  They were inventoried and placed in bins.
6. Backdrop was taken down and sold.
7. Benchwork was disassembled and sent to the dumpster.  Wiring and screws were discarded.
8.  Extremely valuable or fragile items were specially boxed.  This was the bridge's crate.
9. All the model railroad boxes, bins, items of any kind went in the truck that I drove. 

I hope I never have to do that again.

George

I think moving is an event we all dread. My current (and hopefully last) layout has been a work in progress for 20 years this year. It has provided a lot of learning, lots of blood/sweat/tears, lots of fun train operating times, and endless joy for the grandkids. Now my wife is starting to make noises about wanting to move out of the city to a small nearby town, into a brand new house. Ughh! 

I have been resisting as best I can with all sorts of arguments about more driving to get to the city, no nearby shopping, longer distance to other family members (not necessarily a bad thing!), and whatever else I can come up with. The writing is on the wall though, it's just a matter of time. Actually she has stated her desire to live in a condo, so as to get rid of all the outside yard work and maintenance. I don't want a condo because I am a garage and basement kind of guy. I need my space for trains, etc. (So maybe I should just buy HER a condo? Hmmmm ) Anyway I can see a big move coming and I am not enthusiastic about it. I'll probably do as others have and just strip the layout to wood, then sawzall it up and dumpster it. I'll update the inventory as I pack everything up; and most stuff has its original box etc. I'll move all the train stuff myself even if I have to rent a U-Haul truck to do it. The kids and grandkids will get conscripted to do the actual lifting and carrying!  That's the plan; we'll see how it works out in the real world.

Rod

A moment of silence please.  While I wipe the tears off my cheeks...

I built my layout in sections which can be separated from each other.  This has made it fairly easy to move the two times we have relocated from one state to another.

About three weeks prior to a move I start placing new labels on all of the wiring underneath my layout and at the terminal strips at the back of my control panel.  All train items are boxed in original boxes and buildings are removed from the layout and carefully packed in old movers boxes.

I have never allowed the movers to touch the layout or any of the train boxes.  I rent a U-Haul truck and move all layout and train related stuff myself.  I’m normally able to have my layout back together with all wiring reconnected to the control panel within about two to three hours.  Placing buildings back on the layout and replanting trees or repairing any damaged scenery can be done over the following days or weeks.

Curt