Jason,
A very nice job! Maybe a little teak veneer, perhaps with 13 coats of varnish?
My solution, which you may have seen at Jims, is somewhat similar. I used 1x6 pine for the ends, as it lets me stack the boxes and also cut hand holes in them. (
The top box was made later - when I got more hoppers - using scraps that were lying around. 1x6 is actually too small - you can see I had to add small seperators to clear the top of the brakewheels on the cars. Now that everything is Fn3 height, I'll have to use 1x8 or custom cut some 3/4 ply.) I used 1/4 ply for the bottom, sides and partitions with lots of glue holding them together and that has proved quite durable.
This stack holds 12 old-style B'mann hoppers, and I hope it will hold 9 of the newer Fn3 Accu hoppers when they turn up. It fits in a standard 24" kitchen cupboard (actually mine came from a bathroom remodelling,) and sits in the back of the suv quite comfortably.
There are two other features noticeable on the bigger pic (link below.) I have metal angles screwed on top to keep them all aligned in transit. (With your boxes, you might want to add dowels or metal clips - when you get round to the next two or three boxes, of course.)/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif I didn't use clips - there are brass screws protruding from the ends and I wrap small bungee cords round them to keep them together.
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/peter.thornton/kate/assets/images/db_images/db_IMG_1451-cases11.jpg
John (McGuyer)'s problem of damage to be repaired after each trip has a couple of obvious solutions: swapping the mustang he's so proud of for something with a decent trunk
or packing the cars differently. The optimum is to hold the car steady so it doesn't bang and flop around; bubble wrap can damage details [I hope that's what John meant by 'plastic wrap'. /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/blush.gif] Bachmann used to strap their freight cars into the box with a tie-wrap around the axle, which works well. Now they use custom-sized foam which holds the car securely so it can't move.
My boxes have foam pads at each end to 'lock' the couplers in place, which helps stop the cars moving backwards and forwards. Jason's foam pads (visible in the first photo) will do the same - but a separate pad over each truck pivot would reduce strain on the ceenter of the car. Probably not a problem with those Accu stock cars, and anyway, we want them to be a little 'sway-backed'.
