Trains on a bookshelf
I love the bookshelf cases that many Japanese model trains come in. They keep your trains tidy and safe. They also, if a little indirectly, put your trains on display. But what about those models that don’t come with a bookshelf case? Many add-on sets and most freight cars and locomotives come in individual plastic cases. Kato and Tomix both sell empty cases, but the foam inserts are geared towards 20m commuter cars—not the best fit for many cars. What do you do with your collection of freight cars? Read on to find out.
Casco case in silver
Yonpachi, a Japanese plastics company, manufactures and markets the Casco line of bookshelf cases and foam inserts. They sell entire cases, or you can buy just the inserts which as sized to fit into empty Kato cases—Kato Case D no. 10-213 does not have an insert and so is ideal if you don’t like Casco’s cases.
Pictured is my newly acquired Casco case, no. YP-517 with insert D for KOKI container cars. The cases are constructed similarly to the Kato cases—soft plastic with (ostensibly) cardboard inserts for stiffness. Although this is a fine design, I myself prefer the solid feel of Tomix’s cases, made of hard plastic.
The cases are available in silver or black. The cases have a small paper insert label that can be replaced with a label of your own design—a step up from Kato’s cases which have no such provision. The dustsleeve is provided is a nice touch: Rather than Kato’s rather delicate cardboard, Casco has opted for a smoked plastic. It feels very sturdy, and looks nice.
Casco case filled with container cars
No surprises, the foam inserts are exactly what you’d expect: Very dense polyurethane foam, with precise cutouts. This is insert D, for twelve 20m KOKI—50000-series or 100-series (there is a different insert for older, shorter KOKI). The cutouts are in two pieces. Removing both, a fully loaded car fits snugly. Remove only the bottom piece, and the slot will tightly hold an empty. Two of the cutouts will accommodate KOKIFU with brake vans, empty or loaded.
There is no accommodation for the much shorter 15m KOKI 200. It would have been a nice touch, and easy, if the cutouts were segmented to pad shorter cars. Casco does this for their passenger-car cases, so they can fit longer or shorter cars. I had briefly considered cutting some of the cutouts to fit these shorter cars, but I haven’t had any luck making clean-looking cuts in the polyurethane foam.
Pros: Great looking, good quality, and a very wide selection of foam inserts. Easy to label with custom inserts. Also, comparatively cheap.
Cons: This particular foam insert won’t accommodate KOKI 200; Indeed, it’s not clear if any of their available inserts will. Also, as you might well expect, there are no inserts available for anything but Japanese prototypes. But this really is picking nits.
Overall, I’m very satisfied, and as my collection of loose cars grows, I’ll be putting them into Casco bookshelf cases.
View the full line of Casco Cases, and purchase from Hobby Search.