I think recent Farish "Blue Riband"-type coaches, particularly the Mk1s, are most excellent - but the boxes they come in are not fit for purpose other than keeping them safe between factory and layout.

Firstly they take up a lot of space - I've been keeping them in some cheap generic storage boxes, which are starting to take up a lot of room. I can fit 12 Farish coaches into one of these - but in the same sized box I can fit 28 Fleischmann/Minitrix German coaches, which are actually longer than the British ones but which come in nice compact plastic boxes.

Secondly it feels quite onerous to remove/replace the coaches when I feel like playing with them making up an operational rake, putting them back in the right box etcera (#firstworldproblem I know...), and the cardboard boxes themselves are fiddly to open and wear easily (in contrast to the European coaches, where they put the cardboard inside the plastic box so it can still look as good as new even years later...)

Thirdly, and most annoyingly, the coach body can easily come into contact with the cardboard when removing or inserting the plastic inlay tray; this has vaguely been worrying me but not enough to do something about it, however recently I noticed one coach had developed a suspicious black smudge, which on investigation was the ink from the production date stamp on the inside of the end flap.

So... out with an unused Kato bookset case and voila, not quite a perfect fit (it's designed for the Kato Shinkansen), but I now have all my maroon Mk1s in a single location, much easier to use and I can see which ones I have at a glance.


Farish Mk1s in a Kato Case by Rail Squid, on Flickr

(I'll keep the original boxes in case I need them, they fold down easily and the plastic inserts stack nicely)

Anyone got any other solutions?

I managed to find some chocolate boxes, 8" x 6" x 1" deep - and discovered they were just the right depth for farish coaches.
Eight mark 3 coaches plus two power cars - voila - one IC125 boxed set !

Hi

I use the foam inserts sold by JB Models (not the ones currently on eBay) in a set of drawers (Pierre Henry) bought from WH Smith.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pierre-Henry-Drawer-Filing-Cabinet/dp/B004G6NWL8 though when I bought mine they were on offer for around £80 a pair.

This storage solution came from Paddy Coleman on the ngauge yahoo group around five or six years ago.

Cheers

Paul

I have those jb blue boxes with foam in that allow 8 coaches in a box

I use the JB cases with handles and two layers of foam insert as mentioned in another recent thread.

Sadly, unlike wagons and locos, my knowledge of coaches is not good enough to leave them out of the original boxes so I have to unpack > play > repack into the box. I store the original boxes on end in these so I can see the reference numbers and what's in the box...............
http://www.diy.com/departments/black-32l-plastic-crate/259053_BQ.prd

One benefit of being an old fart is that I get 10% discount at that DIY shed on Wednesdays

The price of the new ones I will be storing mine in a wall safe.

Jerry

Chinese tank away cartons.

You can buy plastic ones on eBay for very little. The 500 ml ones are great. You can get 5 coaches in neatly, with minimal rattling, but not so tight they're scratching. Being transparent you can see what's inside without any problems. They stack easily, and I keep most of my stock (but not locos) in these between uses.

Cheers, NeMo