A new Carrying Case

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 For the first several years of having my railroad out back, I stored my engines and cars in plastic tubs that I would carry from the house to the track and back. This worked fine but things did slide around a bit in the tubs and the engine was much heavier than any of the cars and that made the tub a bit awkward to carry. Then one day I was watching one of my favorite garden railroad Youtubers, Garden Railroading Join the Fun (Mark), who had a video on building a wooden carrying box for his engines. It was a straight-forward build, even for my skill level, and would make carrying and storing the engines easier. 

The design is straight-forward. I needed a case that was 28" long to hold my engine and tender. The base of the case is 6" wide and has a piece of straight track screwed down for the engine to sit on. The sides are 9" tall and have 1" foam attached to the inside. This holds the engine in place with a soft touch. But it is a firm grip. Mark demonstrated that by standing his on end and nothing moving. One-inch nylon strap is looped around to make the carrying straps. I added a few feet to the bottom using 1" x 1" strips of wood. 

Mark used hook-and-loop straps to hold the sides closed. I opted for a couple more pieces of wood with metal brackets on the end. These slipped on the case easily. 

You can see the whole thing come together.

Case with locking brackets on top

Foam sides will hold everything snug without breaking parts

After using the case for a few months I decided I didn't need any more modifications so I went ahead and painted it in the Coastal Titans colors.

Carrying case in its new color scheme

After a few more months of storing it in the sunroom I realized that the engine was getting covered in a lot of dust and pollen. A top cover was be useful. I considered a cloth cover with some elastic but I wasn't sure that would stay on while carrying and my sewing skills are zilch in the best of times. I settled on a thin wooden cover. I used quarter inch plywood since it would carry no load. The top needed to be a bit wider than the base since the sides extend out slightly. The top ended up being 7.5" wide and matched the 28" length. Two end caps are 7.5" x 9". They are attached to the top using some more metal brackets. I also moved the brackets that keep the sides closed from the wooden spacers to the underside of the top board. 

Case top and ends seen from the underside

After a few uses I realized the quarter inch plywood flexed a good bit trying to fit it over the sides and ends. Managing that and holding the sides in place was quite the challenge. So just recently, as I'm building a second carrying case for a second engine, I added a strip of the hook-and-loop strap so the sides stay in place while the top goes on. 
The carrying case has turned out to be very useful and easy to construct and I really like the look of it. I would like to paint on some more of the CTRR logo and maybe the engine number. Just need to make the stencils for that.  
The final case

A huge thanks to Mark for the inspiration and answering a few questions I had along the way.



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