Just a thought... Keep a journal !

[eastcoast]

[:)]
Hey there. EAST COAST here.
Have a thought for y'all.
I have been keeping a video journal of my layout progress.
I also have a written and photo hardcopy of my layout from
beginning to current. [:p]
HAVE YOU EVER DONE THIS ???? Try it, excellent way to
look back and see where you began and to show others
who might have interest. [:p]
Someday, I am going to create a web page to publish photos.
I am almost ready to start Video Volume II , E C R SCENERY.

ken_ecr

[Jetrock]

Since I do eventually want to write articles for publication about various projects I'm doing, I have made some effort to photograph my layout in its construction stages, as well as various kitbashing projects. I got a camera with a macro setting pretty much so I could take close-up photos of my trains (and a zoom lens for catching the prototype!)

[Anonymous]

Yes I do have a digital photo history of creating my layout. I have been working on it now for about 6-8 months. At first I was taking pictures at the end of each week. Now I take them whenever the layout shows distinct changes. I also keep a MS Excel file of cost and for inventory.

[Anonymous]

I have been keeping an electronic journal. It is just a diary of what i did on each day but it is a great way to keep motivated - i try and do something each day.

[JPowell]

I'm just starting out, but I've already got my wishlist in a excel spreadsheet for inentory and cost tracking.

[Hawks05]

same here i'm just starting out. i have a notebook with everything that i've bought so far and how much it cost with details like road number and color. i also bought a cheap one time use camera because i thought i was going to go and watch trains tomorrow down by my grandparents house but instead i'm going to be staying home alone so i decided to take a few pictures of my trains tonight. i got a front view of my locomotives and you can see the fronts of the boxcars in the background. i got a couple angle views of the consist. just took maybe 3-4 pictures of it. just to show what i have. i may decide to take pictures weekly or something or daily depending on what i do to the layout once i finally get going.

[AggroJones]

I've had a note book keeping track of my progress since I was 12 years old (21 now). Also I have poorly recorded video footage of my layout operating.

[Anonymous]

I've been looking at various ways to keep a journal though not all have been successful. I started out trying to keep an operating log that listed what locomotives I ran, for how long, on what days, and in what operating manner. I've started a database to inventory what I have in terms of an investment and for replacement cost purposes. I also keep a notebook handy to make notes about ideas observed in magazines, on the web, while operating and building, and just in general. I was recently lucky enough to inherit a 35 mm SLR camera that I've started using to document my layout and local prototypes though I find the idea of video, as mentioned in this forum, an interesting idea.

[CBQ_Guy]

Well on the layout in the old house, I took photos as it progressed. I started with before shots of certain areas of the raw, unfinished basement areas before I started any room prep. Then little by little I would take shots of the same areas as things progressed. It was an ongoing work since, after all, the layout is never really finished, and mine sure wasn't when I had to tear it down to pack for the move to the "new" house I'm in now.

It was kind of neat to put these pix in order and see the progress as each area, uh, progressed. Still is. Problem is, last year I put them in a specific area for safekeeping. You know, the kind of place where they're protected and easy to get at. Well I don't recall now where that "special" place is, and I STILL haven't found them yet! Must be advancing old phartedness.