How to pack a steam engine to survive shipping services

IndianaRog · How to pack a steam engine to survive shipping services

I read member "andysleigh"'s sad tale this morning of receiving an engine in bits that a seller packed poorly..."old timer" and "graham-jilly" recently received post paid boilers of water!!!

I have found a workable method of packing that I insist eBay sellers follow when they ship to me and I in turn use when I ship to others. It might cost a bit more in packing and shipping and you should offer to pay for it...but it's the best insurance you can buy:

Steps to successful packing to request of a seller:

1) Empty out any boiler water and spin flywheels to eject water from the steam lines and cylinders...especially important in cold weather to avoid freeze damage and generally keeps water from rusting engine/ruining boxes etc.

2) Remove and wrap separately any chimneys, safety valves, whistles, fuel trays and other loose bits...put the wrapped bits together in a zip lock type of bag and attach to the engine. Otherwise these can poke thru packaging and get ruined

3) Wrap engine in bubble wrap if at all possible, newpaper or other paper is a second choice, but bubble wrap is marvelous stuff

4) Place wrapped engine inside it's original box or a snug fitting one and fill all the empty spaces with loose foam noodles...balled up paper is a second choice but not as good as the noodles which help keep this box's shape and help keep things from getting squashed

5) Place the original or snug fitting box inside an outer box with foam noodles all around it, top, bottom and sides...pack them in snuggly, then seal that outer box well with packing tape. This box in a box approach protects the inner box from the weight of other boxes stacked on each other in transit and of course protects the engine inside the inner box. Stuffed paper in place of foam noodles is better than nothing, but the noodles keep things suspended best...I save every one I get in shipments to use when I ship stuff...same goes for bubble wrap...save the stuff.

6) I have offered an extra 5-10 GBP or so for the seller to use better packaging. MUCH better value than insurance. It is SO hard to get an insurance claim to pay if the box was crap to start with, they will tell you every time that the packaging was at fault...easier to prevent the damage in the first place than try to argue about it later.

Packing pearls...brought to you by "The Temple of Steam"

cheers,
Rog

MTA

Really good advice Roger! I must save the foam noodles (always wanted to know what the proper name for them was!) and the bubble wrap from now on

May I suggest a mod adds this under the 'links to helpful threads' under the tech tips board

SPOKESMAN

I get an endless supply of boxes and bubble wrap from work - I always pack things to stand up to the PO coffee break kick around . . . . ie using a customers parcel . . . .

Mamodman123

IndianaRog

Handle with care and Fragile scrawled on boxes tend to be targets for a well placed shoe, I'm convinced of it!!!

Pack for the worst and you stand a chance of getting the best results but definitely skip the caution/warning signs !!!

Between my wife the doll collector and me the steam collector...we have accumulated enough foam noodles (kept in large trash bags), bubble wrap and corrogated boxes to send a Volkswagon to the moon...for a crash landing without damage!!!!!!!!! Definitely worth keeping that stuff as to buy it is very expensive...just need a crawl space/root cellar or loft where you can store it. Maybe that's why I have no room for toy steam boxes

cheers,
Rog

tmuir

I work on the principle that an item is only safely packaged if I'm sure it can survive a drop of atleast 1.5 meters without being damaged

MTA

Roger, what do you think of those 'air pockets' you can get. Are they much use? I can easily stand on one without bursting, but the top outer layer will depress and touch the ground

John Chapman

Good advice there Rog.

I can personally testify to Rog's packing skills

IndianaRog

mc_mc

Mamodman123

tarbyonline

Luckily the SR1 i received off ebay was packed more or less this way. Fingers crossed for the TE1A being as well packed! Will definitely start emailing sellers about this type of packing - it worth the extra couple of pound to get a working engine instead of a heap of scrap!

Mamodman123

H2o vapour · Packing

Hi Folks!

Good subject this!!

A couple of thoughts, I recently sent and Item and it got there damaged, it was well packed - and caused me to get a neutral - not happy- so question is what the ------!! do the post office do?

I recently purchased a Minor 2 - the vendor packed this in a purpose made box. The engine was packed into the middle of an expanded foam tray which pinched and held the engine secure, this was then placed in the middle of an outer packing box which again pinched the foam - that engine could not move - brilliant job - I told him so to!

The other point is that I to like Rog collect packing materials. The one thing that struck me when I started ebaying some years ago was the cost of packing. I have an old pick up truck in the garage(AWAITING HELP) and all boxes, packing , bubble wrap, air bags, shredded paper etc gets put in there.

I have work collect boxes for me - the amount a medium size office comes across is incredible and all sizes and shapes- I collect the shredded confidential paper when I need - brilliant packing! -

Well it works for me and there is not allot I can't pack when needed, its sort of re-cycling - packing now costs me nothing, apart from a bit of sticky tape etc - Brown paper - (Ikea after exmas - 10m good qualty stuff - 79P a roll)

Hope this helps

Best Regards

H20 Vapour

Graham-Jilly

Well I have this up http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISA...em=320102912448&rd=1&rd=1 for auction here in Aus and someone wants me to post it to sydney it weighs nearly 15 kilos and i dont have the origional packing so wish me luck