So, I see I;m outvoted here. but the poeople I know use and love YardOffice. To me, it's less cluttered than all the columns and rows in Excell or Access (Which can be cleaned up in the forms).
One otgher thing that should be inventoried, and isn't, that Yardoffice can do, is scenery. Especially if your insuring your stuff, you can't forget the big expensive buildings as well. You may not need to count every flake of styrafoam, but if you have 60,000 trees, you might want to know that.
-Morgan
The little that I do is in Excel. I've got a list of engines with their decoders and custom settings for them.
I also have a collection of old computer games and serious applications that will no longer run on my computer. Let this be a warning. A computer program written for today's version of Windows can not anticipate tomorrow's version of Windows. Eventually, some basic aspect of the operating system will be changed, and the program will no longer work. So, even if you keep your original program disks and back up your files, sooner or later you'll get a new machine and your inventory program will not work. If you're lucky, you may be able to transfer your data to a different program, but many times these programs use proprietary formats, and the best you can do is print out a report and begin typing.
Excel will survive. Excel can produce a comma-delimited output file that many programs can import. Excel can import such files that other programs have created. It's the winner in this Survivor game.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Dave Husman has a nice Access application he wrote that can do inventory on locos and rolling stock as well as generate car cards for operation. You can use as much of it as you want - right now I just use theinventory part, but when I have indusitries set up I'll be able to make swotch lists and car cards without reentering all my rolling stock. The only place I know it's been made available for downlaod is int he file section fo the Car Cards Group on Yahoo.
Being that I know Access very well, I created an extra couple of reports to make pocket-size lists of the locos and cars I own to carry to train shows so I don't buy duplicates.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
This same question came up on the Atlas Forum, and believe it or not, turned into a free-for-all.
Many people use Excel, so if you have it and are familiar with it give it a try. You could look at a freeware program called Yardoffice, http://www.musicmixradio.com/yardoffice/ , which looks really nice. I set up my own database program, modifying a boilerplate inventory program in NeoOffice, which is basically OpenOffice for the Mac. The hardest part is entering everything in--it's rather tedious.
Gary
I just use an Excel spreadsheet, since I use Excel often enough to remember how it works. I keep one Excel work book with worksheets for box cars, locomotives, hopper cars, passenger cars, cabeese, reefers and so on. I have columns for roadname, reporting marks, kit/rtr makers name, cost new, date built (when I bought it), comments, and maintenance history. Excel can sort each worksheet by any column you desire. That feature makes it easy to insure that the same car isn't listed twice. Excel is very cooperative about adding new columns or rearranging them.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
Randy,
Although I know how to use Excel, I actually use tables in MS Word just like cells in Excel. I find them somewhat easier to manipulate and format - especially for the purpose of printing them out in order to take them with you to shows. Excel does have the advantage of more sorting options.
There are inventory software packages out there that do a nice job and may have some advantages with larger inventories. However, since my inventory is smallish, it's not worth the extra expense for me at this point in time.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I use not one, but three spreadsheets: Engines, Passenger, and Freight. My freight car roster has columns for the reporting marks under each heading. There are two lines for the headings: car type, and AAR code. Down the left side the lines are numbered for each entry, so I can tell at a glance that I have 37 box, 32 reefer, 9 tank, 4 flat, 3 gon, 5 hopper, 6 cabeese. When I get a new car, or pick up an old one at a train show, I put on new metal wheels and Kadee couplers. When it is ready to join the fleet I add it to the roster, with a change date. John Colley, Port townsend, WA
I use Excel for inventory and cost tracking--sometimes even on the same page! If you're really finicky with how your inventory looks there are innumerable ways that you can customize the tables to look and other things---I find one really doesn't need even more software cluttering up memory when you need the memory for the inventory--
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
I use a combination of Excel and an Access database to keep track of my fleet.
Bob Berger, C.O.O. N-ovation & Northwestern R.R. My patio layout....SEE IT HERE
There's no place like ~/ ;)
I use a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with a tab for each major category, such as locomotives, freight cars, cabeese, passenger cars and structures. Each tab has column headings appropriate to the category. It's pretty simple but has worked for me for several years.
Good luck!
This has proaboly been covered many times in the past, but I'm curious to know if there is an easy to use program available to inventory all the rr items on hand that one seems to collect over the ages. I used to write purchases down in a journal a few years ago when I was gone on the road all the time. Now I'm home & most of the 'stuff' isn't even in My records. As i'm working at getting more computer 'savvy,I thought it would be nice to find an easy to use software program that I could learn & maybe get these items itemized so I actually know what I have on hand. I'm still in the planning staging of a new home layout & thought this would be a great help to see what I may need in the future. You're personal experiences & methods would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Randy.....