shipping engines

[ccvstmr]

Friend of mine a couple years ago shipped a 1.5" scale loco "down under". He was NOT ALLOWED to do and of the crating. Had to find an int'l shipping service. That service took care of all the paper work and they built the crate using certified materials for international transport. The receiving country didn't want common woods used that might be harboring unwanted bugs that would enter the country. From what I understand, loco and crate arrived in good order. Something else to keep in mind depending on the crate/loco destination... Carl B.

[rkcarguy]

^^^For international shipments they will want no wood being used, or some countries, the USA included, will allow the use of heat treated wood and you will have to fill out a USDA declaration stating such before your shipment will be allowed to clear customs. You can see on some pallets that they have a stamp on the lumber that it's been heat treated and customs will likely look for this stamping. This came to be because some species of Asian beetles got into various ports in the US and decimated the local trees.
I used to ship Japanese engines all over the place, and had numerous engines absolutely destroyed by shipping so my stomach turns at the thought of shipping our backyard trains LTL. I've fully crated engines only to have them stack other freight on top of the crate and cave the top in, even when I labeled it with bright orange stickers on all 4 sides and top "do not stack on top of". I've had engines handled so poorly that they've broke through their cradle and pallet, smashed the oil pan in, cracked the block, and bent the crank. Knowing what I know, if I was shipping a large scale train within the US and was within the same time zone I'd probably take a road trip and go pick it up.
For whatever reason, my international shipping was very uneventful, in dozens of shipments the only thing I had broken was a windshield I brought in for a customers rare car that was not available in the US and thankfully I was able to get another one.

[Fred_V]

I'm shipping from north Fla. to north California. I'll make the crates from 3/4" plywood with 2x4 corner bracing so they should be crush proof. Just don't dump them off the dock.