Freight Crate Rolling Stock Transport Box For HO Scale Equipment Up To 90' Long

I have only assembled one of the two ordered and have had issues assembly was ok but the instructions were unclear as to which side (white or brown went out) I guessed wrong I think. After assembly I took to the club fully loaded with the Super Chief. At the club it took a while to get the two halves apart. When putting them together, it was a somewhat difficult task to latch the key locks and in the process a tab on one side broke off. The next day better getting them apart but despite extreme care two more tabs broke. I have two recommendations metal reinforcements on the tabs; different bubble wrap as the bubble wrap caused the difficulty in closing, maybe sticky to stick to the sides or a warning to trim so it does not extend above the sides. Oh yes the stacking oval just fell off after three days, I guess I needed better glue.

This is not my first Freight Crate - the comments apply generally to any size. First, I strongly suggest assembling this product on a smooth and flat surface - like the kitchen counter. Second, don't rush the assembly process. Trial fit every piece before applying glue. The white side should be facing to the outside. Third, use glue sparingly - too much glue will just make problems to deal with later. Fourth, you will need something to hold the sides in place as the glue sets - like enough heavy rubber bands to go all the way around the box. I suggest two sets of rubber bands placed near the edges of the sides. Note - The Freight Crate is really two 5-sided boxes designed for one to fit inside the other - and the fit is pretty tight. So it is very important the sides of the inner box are firmly seated against the against the bottom piece. After gluing carefully inspect the assembly to ensure there are no gaps between the bottom and the sides. Fifth - The keylock is the only part that seems to be in need of a little design improvement. In all of the Freight Crates I have built the keylock seems to be difficult to slide. On the next one I will try a thin spacer (shim), say the thickness of a file card, between the keylock cover and the two strips it is glued to. Sixth - In the past I have glued the dividers in place as per step 5 of the instructions. Sometimes some slots seem to be tighter than others and it was especially true with this 90' box. So I am going to omit step 5 and see if it is really necessary to glue the dividers in place. Or maybe just a spot glue a each end. Another Note - The keylock piece will break easily where the slots are cut - be very careful when installing it through the slots in way of the guides.

Love these crates. I move a lot of equipment between my home layout and my railroad club. Using the original boxes is tiresome as it takes so long to package every piece up. Older equipment and kit built pieces don't have the nice protective clam shells that new RTR pieces do so are bound to be damaged. These boxes are easy to assemble and do a great job of protecting equipment. I prefer the 90' boxes as I can double up shorter cars. I do wish the "T-slots" for the locking bar was cut with a larger gap. Alignment on that moving part is a bit tricky and needs additional sanding so the parts do not break in usage. A greater tolerance wouldn't affect the overall function of the box and would make assembly easier.