How many folks can document the history of their locomotives and rolling stock? Items like, date purchased, purchase price, manufacturer, coupler provider, when weight was added, etc. I finally figured out that it was a mistake not keeping records like these from the very beginning.
Bear "It's all about having fun."
Years ago I bought a computer that came with a software bundle called Microsoft Works. It was kind of a pared-down Office. I used a simple database program to log in all the information you mention above and since I beganDCC conversions in 2003 that information gets logged as well. The files will open in Excel, too.
It is simple to use and update and I keep a copy on "the Cloud" so I can access the roster anywhere. I have a similar roster for Decoder Pro as well but not as detailed as the Works DB one where I have gear change, lube work, purchase information and other pertinant information. I do cross-reference them often.
Rolling stock I do not keep such an inventory, other than the brass where the original box is my record. I'll place a slip of paper in the box with any purchase notes written down.
Thank You, Ed
I remember MS Works. Now that I am starting to do what I can regarding documentation, I am finding it easier to use a spreadsheet rather than dedicated software like JMRI or another free program I found on-line.
No documentation. Life is busy enough as it is and it sounds too much like work. Half the stuff I've bought over the years has been sold anyway. I have kept all my invoices but they aren't organized, but if I got a wild hair and put them in a file, that would probably take car of the lions share regarding date of purchase, who from, how much, etc.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Not me, never felt it was needed. Just a lot of extra documentation for what? If you buy new locomotives, and new rolling stock, maybe I could justify it, but I have only bought a handfull of new stuff, as long as I have been model railroading.
Whats to keep track of? maintainence? weeeellllll ok, maybe. Price you paid? Why? your family is never going to get that price back as they gather your stuff for a sale. And unless it's very rare and a one-of-kind, I don't think your insurance man is going to care.
If you are a collector, a real collector, say of brass, or such, OK, I get the documantation for that.
One of my wife's clients has 3 lighted bookshelf/cabinet things, filled with brass locomotives, all neatly displayed. He's never ran a model train, or even has track, just the collection.
I could see complete documantation in a case like that.
Even maintainence. Whats the difference? I don't fix something thats not broke, and I don't need to know the last time I did work on it.
And rolling stock? Once again, I don't fix something thats not broke, and I do not care when I last worked on it.
Now, for some project ideas, different techniques I've come across, some drawings that I'm intetested in for a future build, etc., etc., yes, I have that documented.
My layout is small, I don't have rooms full of stuff to keep track of. I'm at the other end of the model railroading scale, that a lot of you are that has it your family history, and have been doing it steady since you were a kid, things like dad's first model railroad, railfanning with dad and uncle bill, family having friends on the railroad so you could get up close and personal as a kid, and such. Sometimes I envy those of you that had that.
This has kind of been covered in a couple of threads, just very recently, like Brent's thread about being anal about stuff.
So document away my friends, I'm sure someday your family will appriciated your thoroughness, as they wade through tons of information and computer programs full of "what is this all about?"
By the way, good morning!
Mike.
My You Tube
I keep an Excel file of all my locomotives & rolling stock and break it down to type, length, road, and road number. The only other thing I record for my locomotives is whether they are DC or DCC and which decoder is installed in them.
Since I outfit/upgrade all my rolling stock with Kadee #58/#158s and metal wheels, I really don't care what the original came with. What I do want to make sure though is that I don't duplicate something that I already have. And it's pretty convenient to have my inventory readily available on my cellphone so that I can easily refer to it at my LHS or a train show.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
mbinsewi If you are a collector, a real collector, say of brass, or such, OK, I get the documantation for that. One of my wife's clients has 3 lighted bookshelf/cabinet things, filled with brass locomotives, all neatly displayed. He's never ran a model train, or even has track, just the collection.
Definitely not my cup of tea. I have a few brass locomotives and cabooses and every one of them was purchased with the purpose of operating them on a layout; not sit in a drawer or display case. To each his own...
bearman How many folks can document the history of their locomotives and rolling stock? Items like, date purchased, purchase price, manufacturer, coupler provider, when weight was added, etc. I finally figured out that it was a mistake not keeping records like these from the very beginning.
Simon
Strangley enough, I pretty much have a good idea what I have in my head in terms of what engines and rolling stock, what couplers come on them from the factory and in the case of engines, I know the road number of most of them also.
The only reason it might be useful to have freight car road numbers documented is to avoid duplicating road numbers when shopping or at train shows.
It's not a bad thing to document and be organized if you have the free time to sit down and do it, but since my hobby time is limited, it's pretty low on the totem pole of things to do, after I finish the basement of course.
Yep, I maintain an Excel spreadsheet for that purpose.
Rich
Alton Junction
I don't do it because I have never seen the need/use for the information.
But I probably should do a list with current resale values for my heirs.
Then again with hobby time limited, I'd rather keep building the layout.
Paul
IRONROOSTERBut I probably should do a list with current resale values for my heirs.
You must have stuff that has a resale value. Most of what we all have doesn't, except maybe what we could get for it on Ebay, that's it's resale value.
I started early, before I had too many items to inventory, and now add each thing as I buy it. DOuble down because the program that tracks the inventory will also make car cards for operations - the program is an Access database written by Dave Husman called - Car Cards. But it has a full inventory application for locos, rolling stock, structures, and more. You can use as much or as little of it as you want, but there are fields for all the usual stuff liek road name and number and car type, but there are also fields for weight, purchase price, coupler type, decoder type for locos, etc. Prior to it being added to the program, I wrote my own report to print a simple list of road names and numbers to take to train shows to avoid buying duplicates. I have far too many of certain car types to possibly remember them all.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I use a program called 'Yard Office' which allows me to record as much information as I want. It will even allow pictures to be stored. The program is free and quite easy to use.
http://www.musicmixradio.com/yardoffice/
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
hon30critter I use a program called 'Yard Office' which allows me to record as much information as I want. It will even allow pictures to be stored. The program is free and quite easy to use. http://www.musicmixradio.com/yardoffice/ Dave
mbinsewi IRONROOSTER But I probably should do a list with current resale values for my heirs. You must have stuff that has a resale value. Most of what we all have doesn't, except maybe what we could get for it on Ebay, that's it's resale value. Mike.
IRONROOSTER But I probably should do a list with current resale values for my heirs.
Well I do. Some of it.
The real problem is that my family won't really know the difference between all the Tyco engines that will get $25(if they're lucky) and the one brass locomotive that could get a few hundred.
I keep an extremely accurate listing in Excel.
.
I know when and where a kit or locomotive was purchased. The date the painting was finished. What roadname it is painted for, the road number, and any notes on detailing.
I did not keep track of the price paid.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I keep all notes on my railroad, including history of locos and rolling stock, in a Microsoft OneNote document. OneNote is great for keeping organized information on any topic or project.
I don't keep prices I paid for rolling stock, but where I got them, what upgrades they still need, what I've done to them and when.
As for spending hobby time, I do this documentation at times when I'm tied to my desk anyway. It also doesn't really take much time.
I say do whatever floats your boat. At times when, as I said, I'm tied to my desk, and I'm thinking about the hobby, I find it useful to take a look at the notes and plan for the next window of hobby time.
In spite of what I posted in the "note to self" thread, I am not crazy about spending modeling time to organize things. As my hobby comittment expanded and the amount of train stuff grew, I found that I had to get organized to keep the it all from being too overwhelming.
As far as rolling stock, I find that it is necessary for me to document locomotives only. I have a binder with all the cv settings and basic info on each loco. Since I do run old brass and everything has a sound decoder and usually a keep alive, I find it very handy to have records I can refer to if I need to reprogram a decoder or if (don't ask) I need to replace a decoder. I have trouble remembering which decoder I installed 15 years ago in a specific loco.
The sheets also have a record of re-motoring and any other work that is done to the loco. As for other rolling stock, there is way too much to keep track of, other than to have a rough list for OPs sessions to know what is on the layout.
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
No need for that stuff, I can tell you what I paid and where it came from for most of my stuff, heck I can tell you what i paid for a loaf of bread 40 years ago.
snjroy bearman How many folks can document the history of their locomotives and rolling stock? Items like, date purchased, purchase price, manufacturer, coupler provider, when weight was added, etc. I finally figured out that it was a mistake not keeping records like these from the very beginning. I'm curious, why do you think it was a mistake? Simon
I'm curious, why do you think it was a mistake?
Mostly so I can quickly figure out which items have to be worked on in terms of couplers and weight. Some of the other informatioin may be valuable when you post on a forum like this and you get questions like, who made the box car? As for the price, if my house burned down tomorrow, I would like the insurance company to pay something towards a new layout.
Kind of. I write the price and date of locomotive purchaces on their boxes when I remember to. All couplers on engines get changed to Kadee whiskers, no doc's needed. I dont doccument maintenance, but I do so on progress on modified, scratchbuilt or any other real involved loco projects.
Freight cars get a little silver dot under the coupler box to indicate whisker couplers. All others are #5, unless obvious.
I have a piece of paper on a clip board that I jot down what progress is made on the layout. It helps me realize how much really gets done when I look it over, cuz sometimes it seems progress is so slow. Dan
I made database files with Mircosoft Works which is the home bundle version of Office. I keep track of locomotives and rolling stock, figures (people and animals), automobiles, structures, and more. I use it to not only to keep track of all of my items but I also use it to print car cards and way bills. I started it back in the 1990s on a PC which ran Win95. I wish I would have kept track earlier. I don’t remember how much I paid for items before then and looking at receipts doesn’t help because too many of them just say the price or if there is a description it just says hobby. It is actually really easy to keep it up to date. I waste far more time on eBay or on this website than I do entering the database information. When I buy an item I check it into the inventory system as soon as the item arrives in the mail. If I sell an item then I know if I made or lost money on it. I’ve never lost money on any yet. Where it really comes in handy besides printing car cards is knowing which exact after market couplers or details I have installed. It can be used for insurance claims and when I’m gone it will make it easier on family to sell my stuff.
I have spreadsheets for decoder settings and to track road numbers for rolling stock. Dates and costs don't matter to me.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I've got a spreadsheet for my rolling stock. I don't keep track of dates or weights but I do note type of wheels, couplers, and whether it's tuned and weathered.
Visit the Chicago Valley Railroad for Chicago Trainspotting and Budget Model Railroading.
I do a couple of other things besides using the Yard Office program.
I keep a recipe card in each locomotive box with the decoder details like brand and which CVs I have changed. The information is right there every time I open the box.
For freight cars and passenger cars I have a very simple system. Once a car is tuned to the NMRA suggested practises for weight and coupler height, and I have replaced the wheels with Intermountain sets, adjusted the trucks for proper pivoting and replaced any plastic couplers with Kadees, I just put a tiny dot of red paint on the bottom of the car. If the car has a dot it's good to go. No dot, it needs work.
Well, I do have some records on my kit basehed locos, and I started a list of rolling stock, maybe after the new layout is running I will finish updating it.
But I have no real records on purchase dates or exact amounts.
In fact my roster is more focused on prototype information, although it does list brand name.
Couplers? Since there is only one brand, no need to record that............
Sheldon
I don't keep any records of engines or rolling stock. I like to run my trains. I fix them when they break and clean them when needed.
I started to keep records of CV settings but a computer crash wiped all that out. No backups so it's my fault. If a DCC decoder fails, it gets replaced with a RailPro decoder; no CVs to keep track of.
Back in 1987 when I got my first Mac, I got Microsoft Works for it. Very useful back then.
I still have files that I first created with it in the late 80's/early 90's, although I've migrated the original data into new formats for modern Mac apps.
My loco collection isn't large (13 engines). I have a small spreadsheet I created with manufacturer, model, RR, engine #, decoder mfr., decoder model #, cost.
Comes in handy when I wonder, "what kind of decoder did I put in that one, anyway?"
Aside: Using the "SheepShaver" emulator, I can still run that old copy of MS Works even though it's in old code that won't run under the Mac OS any more!