Cataloguing Your Stock

[Zakalwe]

OneNote notebook with all other information, split by era and has all cv values in embedded excel spreadsheets

OneNote is Microsoft's second greatest app

[Newportnobby]

Excel spreadsheet for me too - listing details of loco by region, number, name etc. Separate pages for rolling stock and pre-orders (of which there are many )

Hi
I have never bothered cataloguing my stock, but seeing your post set me thinking, "suppose I had a burglary, I only have a vague idea of what I actually have got"

I guess if someone stole all my railway stuff they'd also have it away with my laptop so I just hope they don't find the external back up

[georgehgv]

Having used up all the free space rather swiftly in my opinion it was well worth splashing out with the £10.99. to expand the programme to accommodate all my stock.

Never mind Excel which is OK if you are any good with PC but MTC does all the work for me and allows alterations to tailor it to suit my exact requirements, and all simple enough for me to actually understand and use.

Good for me anyway.

[DesertHound]

 

OneNote notebook with all other information, split by era and has all cv values in embedded excel spreadsheets

OneNote is Microsoft's second greatest app

Ah - what is OneNote then, kind of like a spreadsheet, or database? Think I have that on my computer - will have to have a play.

Zakalwe, good for you if it works. There's no right and wrong and if you've found something that you like, then that's all that matters.

Nobby, haven't you got a bicycle chain from your Chopper from days gone by ... chain the computer to the desk! 

Cheers

Dan

[railsquid]

Meh.

For Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8/8.1

[rmille]

When you don't know how to use Excel, Model Train Catalogue makes it so easy.

[Bealman]

Hello rmille!

Welcome to the NGF! 

[Luke Piewalker]

I use Excel.
But then I already have it. And am used to using it.
I'm just going to upload it onto 'the cloud' so that I can access it if the worst happens..

[Zakalwe]

OneNote notebook with all other information, split by era and has all cv values in embedded excel spreadsheets

OneNote is Microsoft's second greatest app

Ah - what is OneNote then, kind of like a spreadsheet, or database? Think I have that on my computer - will have to have a play.

Zakalwe, good for you if it works. There's no right and wrong and if you've found something that you like, then that's all that matters.

Nobby, haven't you got a bicycle chain from your Chopper from days gone by ... chain the computer to the desk! 

Cheers

Dan

Onenote is a notebook, organized into books, tabs and pages and saves on the go so no need to save early, save often.   It allows all other office apps to embed seamlessly so i have embedded spreadsheets, pictures, snips, links, etc.  For eg if you snip from a web page it keeps the hyper link against the snip so you can get back to the web page

coolest thing is it has a brilliant search facility including all text in (for example) pdf's etc and can also be used to OCR documents this way.

also share mine onto the cloud so i can get to it on my phone and on other PC's

[Tom@Crewe]

Also with using excel and word. I have a app on my phone Evernote this is linked to my computer and I save the lists and pages to that  and the I have access to them when out and about at the Shop. Show. Club or mates.

[GrahamB]

I use Excel as a cheap (Free) and cheerful inventory.

I decided to build it when I started taking Southbridge Mk1 (The current is Mk2) to exhibitions and was asked about the value of the layout and stock.

My wife doesn't do much computing. I really hope she never finds the spreadsheet 

[CarriageShed]

Another Excel user here, and as a designer also, mine's very neatly and tidily structured.

I guess if someone stole all my railway stuff they'd also have it away with my laptop so I just hope they don't find the external back up

You could also backup to DVD once every few months. That's much less likely to go missing along with your laptop. True, you'd lose a couple of months of work, but the rest would still be there as a backup to the backup.

I'm just going to upload it onto 'the cloud' so that I can access it if the worst happens..

And anyone else can also access it if the worst happens (such as hacking, which is not that infrequent). 

[ohlavache]

I also use Excel.
I've defined the following fields:
-> Scale / Stock type / Brand / Reference / Model / Country / Company / Livery / Comment / Coupler type.

The intention here is not to follow my stock, but to help my family when the time comes to sell my stuff.
I'm just at the beginning of fulfilling it.

For the stock type, I've defined several possible values for the stock type (they are so many...):
-> Multiple unit / Electric railcar / Railcar (diesel or steam) / Caboose / Snow plow / Set / Rail motor car / Diesel locomotive / Electric locomotive / Electro-diesel locomotive / Steam locomotive / Coach / Sleeping car / Wagon / CIWL sleeping car / Building / Vehicle / Other

The only drawback with Excel is the impossibility to properly handle pictures.

[FeelixTC]

The only drawback with Excel is the impossibility to properly handle pictures.

It's far from ideal, but there are a few tricks that make putting pictures into Excel more manageable.
For Example: you can insert a picture into a 'coment box' so that you see the picture when you hover over that cell

[colpatben]

I use JMRI Rosters
Even if you don't use DCC it is model railway related, has a notes section and you can add pictures.
It is effectivly a free unlimited database that runs on a variety of operating systems.

Was going to put 'variety of platforms' but thought better of it.