Staging Cabinet

Not a storage cabinet, but a staging cabinet.  The shelves have a lip on the front and strip on the back to prevent cars - in their boxes* - from sliding off.  The front shelf trim also provides a finished look that matches the style of the cabinet itself.  This feature wasn't part of the original design but came about during reconstruction.

"Backless" and not yet varnished, but otherwise complete.

The cabinet started life as a piece of furniture for a children's classroom, built by the Community Playthings company of Rifton, New York.  I found this sad specimen in the cast-off furniture at my local community college during one of their clean-outs.  It has lived in my garage for a year or two at least.  Only recently with the establishment of a workshop in the garage, and the acquisition of a few second-hand tools, have I felt ready to tackle this project.

The sad state I started with.

After some measurements I determined I could increase the number of sliding shelves from 8 to 18.  Each slot would be around 2-3/4 inches high, 10 inches wide and 14 inches deep, more than enough space for HO scale cars.  The challenge was how to add more slots.  I recently purchased a router (second hand) and finally had a use for it.  I made a jig that would "ride" in the existing slots while putting the new slots exactly between them.  This worked FAR better than I had hoped, especially since I'm a novice woodworker at best.

Once the slots were cut I began cleaning the cabinet parts with Krud Kutter, scraping away years of accumulated glue, paint and glitter.  This removed much of the aging varnish as well.  Some time with an orbital sander removed the rest, unfortunately depositing the dust all over every horizontal surface in my garage, despite the attached dust collector bag.  I had enough thin hardboard in stock to make just enough shelves, as well as small bits of wood for the front and back stops, and a large piece for a new back panel.  I did have to purchase more trim but that was the only purchase required for this project apart from some sanding discs.  Not bad.

Shelf parts ready for assembly.

The original cabinet used to have doors with indents on the front face of the sides for hinges.  I ran each side and the center through my table saw to straighten the edges.  After this I used my router to restore the "round over" to each face.  Once all the parts were prepared I reassembled the cabinet using the nails I had pulled when disassembling it.  I added blocks and casters to the bottom; the original had some but they weren't there when I found it.  

The shelves were assembled next, gluing the trim bits in place.  Even using every clamp and clothes pin available I had to do the shelves in batches over a few days.  On a relatively dry and warmish day I applied a coat of wipe-on polyurethane.  After a night to dry I sanded and added another coat.

It will be a while before I get the shelves filled, as many of the cars I want to put there are "orphans" which came to me with no boxes.  I have purchased a set of laser cut cardboard boxes for them which will be the subject of another post.  However, some cars and locomotives can go in the shelves now, and this includes both cars ready to use on the railroad and kits I want to build.  This project has been a long time coming and I'm glad it's finished.

*I believe the best storage for cars in regular use is on the tracks in a fiddle yard or staging area.  Second to that and for cars in longer storage is in secure boxes; that is, with soft padding or lining that conforms to the shape of the car to prevent it from moving in the box.  Transport cases, such as those by A-Line or Feldherr are fine for storage but really intended for transporting cars to train shows.