Getting Organized

I've spent some time over the last several weeks getting the rails organized and ready for the ONRH&TS convention.  The biggest and best investment was purchasing about a dozen heavy duty plastic totes. I opted to use two sizes for the storage of rolling stock and other building and scenic supplies.  Large 18 to 35-gallon totes are used to store large amounts of rolling stock, with each type of rolling stock getting it's own tote. While this may seem like I have a large number of rolling stock, I really don't but you have to remember that rolling stock such as centerbeam flatcars, wood hoppers, etc require a large amount of room and typically can't stored on their ends.  I use the 3-10 gallon totes for those cars which I don't have many pieces.  While not an endorsement, I prefer the Rubbermaid Roughneck totes as they seem to be a heavier duty plastic material and not prone to cracking like some of the cheaper plastic totes available.  A small and large tote can easily be stacked beneath the layout, creating storage space and plenty of room to organize rolling stock for the next operating session.

I built shelving for my paint bottles and small objects in the process of being built or repaired.  This is located just above the work scape and includes a fluorescent lamp mounted to the base.  I also mounted a strip of corkboard immediately below so that I can tack up drawings or building plans, which can be quickly and easily referenced from the work bench.  Also very handy to get the small extras out of the way of the work surface.

The next item was taking some plastic electrical outlet boxes, cutting them to size so that they could be used to hold throttles.  I use the cheapest gang box, which costs about half a buck, and cut off all of the extra plastic which holds the nails, turn them on their side and cut a slot down the center and through to a portion of the base.  A little black spray paint and you have a great throttle holder which is easily screwed onto the layout fascia.