Keeping track of Stock

[Waz]

I've had a search but couldn't find a thread on it,

How to other people keep track of all their stock? and know which locos they haven haven't got, and which needs attention?

Personalty I use spreadsheets that keep track of all my stock and what its DCC address is. However I was wondering if anybody else out there has a better way of doing it?

[Sprintex]

Excel spreadsheet here too - has all stock, train formations, chip type and DCC address


Paul

[Waz]

I've also added what type of coupling to mine as well. The good thing is they are can be searchable and formatted to flag up address conflicts or duplicate locos

[Skyline2uk]

Excel spreadsheet and matching folder full of photos of each item.

As mentioned elsewhere I recently transferred all my stock into a new box with several shelves, which I have labelled according to contents. This freed up a huge amount of space by moving all the boxes into the loft (in a suitable sturdy plastic box with latched lid).

Not to teach anyone to suck eggs but worth mentioning that my excel sheet and photos are all backed-up on an external hard-drive. After all the worst thing to happen would be to need to use it as evidence in the event of thievery and said file be unavailable through laptop theft!

Skyline2uk

[grid078]

As mentioned on another thread i use MTC (model train catalogue) theres a free demo copy available online with the option to purchase full copy which is £10.99. I have no connection to the company apart from being a very happy customer.
Link for those interested:-  http://www.modeltraincatalogue.com/index.html

Regards Stuart

[austinbob]

As mentioned on another thread i use MTC (model train catalogue) theres a free demo copy available online with the option to purchase full copy which is £10.99. I have no connection to the company apart from being a very happy customer.
Link for those interested:-  http://www.modeltraincatalogue.com/index.html

Regards Stuart

Absolutely right - a very inexpensive bit of software and very comprehensive.

[Bealman]

I haven't  got enough stock to warrant the fancy software 

Well, I probably have, but I know where it is.... on the layout or in boxes 

[Newportnobby]

Like others, I use a spreadsheet which contains pages for locos, carriages and wagons, The locos I find easy to remember but, when I go to shows, I take print outs of the carriage & wagon ones as I'm notorious for getting back home to find I already have the article I've bought.
Whenever I see DavieB at a show I have to tell him not to let me buy any Peco tunnel portals for that very reason

[njee20]

As mentioned on another thread i use MTC (model train catalogue) theres a free demo copy available online with the option to purchase full copy which is £10.99. I have no connection to the company apart from being a very happy customer.
Link for those interested:-  http://www.modeltraincatalogue.com/index.html

Regards Stuart

Absolutely right - a very inexpensive bit of software and very comprehensive.

Can't decide if I think that's an invaluable tool, or wholly unnecessary. I know what a 66 looks like without a picture!

I've got a vague list of locos on my phone, but would rely on memory for stock. Reckon I could get close, never quite sure if I've got 15 or 16 HHAs, and PCAs are somewhere between 25 and 28. Ought to catalogue it really, but not sure if anything more than a spreadsheet is required!

[Bealman]

Like others, I use a spreadsheet which contains pages for locos, carriages and wagons, The locos I find easy to remember but, when I go to shows, I take print outs of the carriage & wagon ones as I'm notorious for getting back home to find I already have the article I've bought.
Whenever I see DavieB at a show I have to tell him not to let me buy any Peco tunnel portals for that very reason

Ah, the dreaded Peco tunnel portal fetish. 

[PaulCheffus]

As mentioned on another thread i use MTC (model train catalogue) theres a free demo copy available online with the option to purchase full copy which is £10.99. I have no connection to the company apart from being a very happy customer.
Link for those interested:-  http://www.modeltraincatalogue.com/index.html

Regards Stuart

Absolutely right - a very inexpensive bit of software and very comprehensive.

Can't decide if I think that's an invaluable tool, or wholly unnecessary. I know what a 66 looks like without a picture!

I've got a vague list of locos on my phone, but would rely on memory for stock. Reckon I could get close, never quite sure if I've got 15 or 16 HHAs, and PCAs are somewhere between 25 and 28. Ought to catalogue it really, but not sure if anything more than a spreadsheet is required!

Hi

What about if the worst should happen and you need to claim on your insurance. Photos of the exact item would be useful then I would think especially if they are one offs.

Cheers

Paul

[njee20]

But there aren't many of those for most of us, and you don't specifically need them catalogued against an inventory entry. Plus if it's truly unique (scratch built, say) then you're going to struggle with a pre-defined catalogue of items.

[paulprice]

I have just cobbled together a spread sheet so I can start to log all my stock, I'm kind of looking forward to and dreading establishing how much stock I have.

[Newportnobby]

It does get scary when the 'Autosum' function reveals I have 181 coaches and over 200 wagons.
I guess the simple answer is 'don't use the Autosum function'

[railsquid]

The powered stock tab on my spreadsheet (LibreOffice, I don't hold with this Windows stuff) goes up to about line 122  though by volume the majority is cheap-as-chips Japanese stuff and/or second hand. I do have way less in the way of (loco-hauled) coaches and wagons mind you.

I do also have a column for various notes on each item, one with relevant links (e.g. to the manufacturer's page, and/or detailed views), and for items needing attention I highlight each column (red is "broken, needs repair, probably a Farish product with split gear").