Track Inventories and Storage Systems

[Kanpai Keith]

Just wondering, do people have inventories for the track they possess and can they be imported into track planning software?

 

 

Edited July 22, 2021 by disturbman

[roadstar_na6]

I made one once, Excel crashed and I couldn't be bothered to do it again since then 😄

[disturbman]

I never bothered, but I don’t have enough track for it to be an issue. I also have a relatively clear storing system which can make counting quite fast.

 

I have been wondering, how do people store their tracks? Loose in large boxes or do they have systems? I recently bettered mine by making new boxes and inserts.

[bill937ca]

I store various types of track in different clear boxes.  Tram track in one box, stock rail in another box. I also use freezer bags for special pieces or small connecting pieces.

[Kanpai Keith]

I suppose the follow up question should be, how do you store your track?

[roadstar_na6]

Track sets in their packagings, loose tracks tossed in a cardboard box.

[bill937ca]

I sometimes put a rubber band around similar lengths of track or curve radius. It means less sorting, less digging for a particular piece. Nothing special other than that.

[cteno4]

Depends on the planning software, most just spit out a required list of the drawing you have made.

 

we did have a big club excel sheet of all our track, but that’s sort of fallen away. One thing we do do is write the track radius in large black letters on the bottom of each piece of track, makes grabbing them fast easier if in a pile.

 

ours is usually sorted ziplock bags with size written big on both sides. 
 

jeff

[chadbag]

Mine is stored in a box now, all jumbled together.  I eventually plan on changing that...  Good question.  I like the ideas given.

 

IKEA often has cheap clear plastic boxes of different sizes.  Something I need to look into

[bill937ca]

I have some stuff on Excel, but no true continuing inventory of track. I buy new pieces as needed. My track storage is fairly organized.

 

But as I use Tomix track I do have a spread sheet listing the types of track stock rail. PC tracks, overhead, double overhead, slab rail and wide PC track by the radius or length offered.  It's something that is not always obvious by browsing dealer listings.

[cteno4]

Years ago we had a similar Kato master list of all the track pieces with the part numbers, description, number in pack. Someone in the club converted it out of some old Kato file or maybe sucked it out of the xtrakcad Kato data file.

 

jeff

[inobu]

Starting it is easy keeping it going and updated is the hardest.

 

One of the pluses for Kata unitrack is its packaging. It is reuseable. I keep them and refill them as odd ends pile up.

I started putting up peg boards to hang them like a hobby shop. Its easier to manage and counting back into

the PC is easy.

 

 

Inobu

[disturbman]

6 hours ago, roadstar_na6 said:

Track sets in their packagings

Really? Original packaging of sets are usually a lot of wasted space. I throw out all of mine, the only one I still have is some elevated track set as the pillars and railings make it more annoying to store without the original packaging. But it's in the ceiling storage space and I never use it.
 

3 hours ago, bill937ca said:

I sometimes put a rubber band around similar lengths of track or curve radius.

I used to but the rubber bands never lasted so long. I came to prefer using smaller boxes where I can differentiate the tracks.

But, in the end, I have found that making inserts for boxes is relatively easy. You just need some glue, some good cardboard/paperboard and a hobby knife. For people that can build layouts, it's a really easy thing to do. I'll try to post a few pictures of what I done to better my track storage.

[disturbman]

On 7/22/2021 at 11:10 PM, disturbman said:

But, in the end, I have found that making inserts for boxes is relatively easy. You just need some glue, some good cardboard/paperboard and a hobby knife. For people that can build layouts, it's a really easy thing to do. I'll try to post a few pictures of what I done to better my track storage.

I used to store my normal straight tracks inside a cardboard box. I know have made two simple inserts that can stacked on top of each other. I should have made the sides of the bottom inserts high enough to keep the top insert in place but didn’t thought of it at the time. The bottom one is glued to the bottom of the box.

 

Bottom insert:

 

Top insert:

 

 

The tape was used to maintain the corners while the glue dried. Since I like how it looks and was not planning in wrapping the sides in cover paper, I kept the tape.

Edited July 25, 2021 by disturbman

[KateM]

I keep one AnyRail file with all of my ~230 pieces of tracks. When I get some idea for a temporary layout, I just open the file, Save As, and reorganize the tracks. This way I don't need to remember how many pieces of particular tracks I do have.

[Wolf]

On 7/22/2021 at 7:59 PM, chadbag said:

IKEA often has cheap clear plastic boxes of different sizes.  Something I need to look into

I have exactly ONE of these, and all is in there. I really need to sort this XD

[kenjidm]

sorry for bringing up an old topic, but dont want to start a new one. Has anyone tried 3d printing a storage box?  anyone have any good ideas of storage containers for loose tracks?

[bill937ca]

With Tomix track I put the smallest pieces(S18, S33, etc.)  in plastic bags so I don't have to fish through a much larger box when I need a single piece.. Also smaller pieces can just be attached together in a long strip like S280.

[Beaver]

Any long thin box or compartment should do. I use pencil boxes for small bits and cutlery trays for the long ones. Only points are fragile enough to need any kind of padding or packaging material.

[Sr.Horn]

Hi! In the past I bought two KATO 10-213 TRAIN SET CASE, it was bought without foam and bought and make a custom sheet from Casco. 

 

My question: Does KATO sells separately foam sheets for that product?

 

Thanks!

[Kamome]

The Kato bookcase without foam (10-213) is meant to hold their jewel cases, (clear plastic boxes that locos and loose stock come in) I think is slightly wider than their normal foam insert cases to accommodate the hard case width. Adding foam may not fit exactly so you’d probably have to pad the edges to stop the foam rattling around. 

 

Hobby centre Kato probably sell foams but Casco produce a range of inserts for Kato and Tomix cases depending on what you want to store. 

Edited September 13 by Kamome

[tossedman]

We use these drawer units. Can hold a lot of track. Each drawer is labelled but some of us are better at putting the right track in the right drawer. Tried adding the inventory into RailModeller Pro but never kept up as new track was added. So no, we don't keep an inventory.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Todd

Edited September 13 by tossedman