Model Train Forum banner

Free Printable N and HO scale paper containers

160K views 70 replies 20 participants last post by  CTValleyRR 
#1 ·
I stumbled upon this site that has templates for DIY container templates that you can print and fold into stacks for your container terminal. They are for N scale but you can fit HO scale on 8x11" standard printer paper. I used photoshop and under the print que I upscaled the image to 225% size and printed in landscape view for HO scale. Now I think I will cut some wood scraps to wrap around them. I may try to print with thicker cardboard stock paper.
http://home.wanadoo.nl/schatborn/index2.html
-Art
 
#3 ·
My LHS sells packs of (3) for $27. For the price of a color inkjet cartridge I can make tons of them. I think I will try to cut scraps of wood to go inside them so that they add some weight to my container cars. I did not see an Evergreen one so I photoshopped a green one to look like evergreen. The trick is to scale them up from N scale to HO size. I am printing up samples at work on the laser printer to get the size just right. I stumbled onto the site while looking for bulk supply of undecorated ones but had no luck.
-Art
 
#5 ·
1st set done

Last nite i made a bunch of containers. I used photoshop to make some of double stack containers from the website. I printed them, cut them out then cut wood scraps to the correct size. I used tacky spray glue to attach them to the wood. It worked out pretty nice......much cheaper than buying them.

These should run nicely on my layout with the added wood structure weight. :thumbsup::thumbsup:
-Art
 
#8 ·
I made a bunch more this morning before work. I like having the ability to make the brand containers that add unique colors for my layout. My ceiling shelf will make it hard to see them so I figure I can make lots of them and stack them up for a nice effect. The added weight should be good in the container cars as well. An added bonus.........cheap!!!
-Art
 
#11 ·
TJ,
I printed them as doubles. A double stack fits nicely on regular 8 1/2 X 11 printer paper for HO scale. The paper is stuck to blocks of wood with craft store tacky spray. Then I sprayed the outside with clear acrylic spray so that the inkjet ink does not run. The wood helps give them some weight and because they are stacked as doubles they won't fall off my container cars.
Here is an example:

The white tabs are folded over the edges of the wood blocks. The rest of the paper is cut away. Print them in landscape view and scale them to fit the page. I printed some samples on my laser printer at work to not waste ink and get the scale size as close as possible.
-Art
 
#16 ·
Great links Tj. Back in the fourties, before plastic anything, lots of model rr stuff was made in cardboard. Buildings, rolling stock and even locomotives could be ordered,punched out of the card and assembled. Of course the rolling stock and locos didn't come close to running but the buildings could be used on a train set even before HO gauge was popular. Back then it was Lionel or American Flyer if I remember right but I was only 5 or 6 at the time.
With times the way they are now perhaps these printed models will make a comback.
My biggest problem right now would be getting the printed picture out of my printer at the right scale. Maybe somebody could post some container pics ect. in HO scale for us. Pete
 
#17 ·
Is there any way you could E-mail me the file for the containers? IE gives me an error whenever I try to download them. mike@model-rails.com

Thanks
Massey
 
#19 · (Edited)
Hey I tried printing them out and I'm confused as to the scale of them.

The 45 ft hicube containers page says "N: 122mm"

http://www.norbtach.nl/bouwplaat/Cont45h/Cont45fth.html

The 45ft hicube Containers page says "N: 175mm"

http://www.norbtach.nl/bouwplaat/4cont45/4x45fthcont.html

I printed out both and they seem to be of differing scales, i.e. if you compare one out of the stack of 4 image it isn't the same size as the single one when printed out. If they are both 45 ft hicube containers then the scale should be the same, right?

N scale is 1:160

45 / 160 = 0.281
.281 * 12 = 3.3 inches

The one that appears right when printed out according to my ruler is the single 45 ft cube.
 
#21 ·
Well Schaal is Dutch for scale, and the only printouts that are to N scale (1:160) when printed out are the single 45 ft containers he's got. The quad stack 45 ft containers are not long enough. They are about 2.25 inches which is not N scale for a 45 ft long physical object. 3.3 inches is N scale for 45 ft object.
 
#22 ·
Yea he's got a slight scaling problem. If you look at the pages of the single containers it says "122mm" That's the exact horizontal length of the image on the paper when printed out, and it matches my printout.

The quad containers say "175mm" That should also be the exact size of the horz. image on paper, but it isn't correct on my printouts. I get 105 mm on paper for those.
 
#23 ·
Yeah....I couldn't convert the 122 or 175 into anything close to the 20, 40, 45, 48 or 53 ft containers. Lengths in N should be

20 ft - 38.1mm or 1.5"
40 ft - 76.2mm or 3.0"
45 ft - 85.7mm or 3.375"
48 ft - 91.4mm or 3.6"
53 ft - 101mm or 3.975"

Maybe they're giving a total length of the print including the heights of the cube boxes?

i.e. 122mm is the length + 2x height of 45 ft

85.7mm + 2x(19.05) = 123.8

Double stack 45's would be 85.7mm + 4x(19.05) ~ 162mm (they add some for the glue tabs?)
 
#25 ·
Yeah....I couldn't convert the 122 or 175 into anything close to the 20, 40, 45, 48 or 53 ft containers.

Maybe they're giving a total length of the print including the heights of the cube boxes?

i.e. 122mm is the length + 2x height of 45 ft
Yea, the 122mm and 175mm is total horz print size coming out of the printer, I guess he wants you to know what size paper to use?

Nevertheless, If you print out and assemble a paper model of the singe 45 ft cube, it is a good N scale replica. The quad stack isn't, and I'm pretty sure that stacking 4 cubes together doesn't warp spacetime enough to shrink the length so much. :laugh:
 
#24 ·
Thanks for the confirmation. The single 45 ft images come out OK for me, like you said, 3.3 " assembled length (45 ft in N scale), but the quad stack doesn't - way too short. I can scale it using Irfanview, but I'll have to play with it. But still, printing them out in original DPI should be all that you have to do. I wonder if I can email the guy about it?
 
#29 ·
I emailed the guy about his pics and he did check into it and found an error. He changed the webpage to show the correct scaling for the quads, which for N scale is 158 mm horizontal, not 175 mm like it was. He did say though that you should scale it in the print preview yourself, i.e the pics are not the correct size as is.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top