What are you guys using for train inventory?

Excel spreadsheet.

Good old sheet of paper spit out by my HP printer using Word.  KISS!

Steve, Lady and Tex

Excel.

I walk past mine about once a day 

Clem k

Excel spreadsheet.

inventory threads

many threads on inventory.

I use excel. A copy of it and photos of everything I have are stored on a flashdrive in a fireproof safe, just in case.

Excel spreadsheet.  Contemplated the hyperlinks etc, but what happens if the hyperlinked site changes where that information is stored?  Link is a dead end, then. 

So I have noted etails like you have and have taken a picture of every item and have sent it all the insurance agent so that they have a complete list.

I use the old "Oh I already have this one" technique

Notebook and pencil.  For those who like working on computers I can certainly understand the Excel spreadsheet, etc.  But computers don't amuse me.  I keep it simple.

Most of the dedicated collecting programs have died out (Trainminder being the latest to crash and burn) Most are just using a spreadsheet or homemade database  using Access or Filemaker.

There is one online site but I cannot recall its name right now. I tried using it and found it too slow to deal with, however it was nice to have access to my records wherever I needed it

Do check BigDodgeTrains link though, this subject has been visited often

Just photos...

I used to use a notebook, but I recently upgraded to 4x6 index cards in a file box. Much more organized now.

A ballpoint pen.

Here are a couple that I looked at and sort of liked. However, neither one quite did it for me for no particular reason other than they just didn't seem like what I wanted. Every program I looked at was missing something, none were perfect. These are nice though, and may be worth of taking a look. I have no idea if they are still being updated or supported by their authors?

Yard Office

Easy Model Railroad Inventory

I ended up doing my own in Filemaker, and even it has a few things I don't like. Excel or pencil and paper may be the best bet? I also like the one above about using index cards.

I use a variation of that system, the "Why do I have 4 of these?" technique.

Jerry

OpenOffice spreadsheet.

Excel. You can configure the sheet to suit your own needs. Sort by name of number, etc.

Gilly

I use the table/chart in Microsoft Word

Interesting that no one has mentioned using DASH for their inventory purposes.

I too need to update my inventory. I'd like a "point and click" option off a database, with pictures, to add items to my inventory with additional field details such as condition, box...

Paul

Apple's Numbers, which I do need to update the file.  I keep it simple, but don't track prices since I have no plans on selling any.

Excel

- Mike

Access database

I have done a LOT of work in Filemaker over the years. Our Advertiser Management System is a custom solution which I designed for OGR. Same for our Dealer Database.

What don't you like about what you built? If you would send me a copy of your FP7 file and tell me what you would like it to do differently, I'd be happy to take a look at it.

A freeware application called RRTrains 2000

Compact, lightweight, runs on everything from Windows 95 to Win 8.x

Not specifically designed for O Gauge, so no pre-compiled lists, but one can shoehorn quite a bit of data into it (including photos). I keep a copy on a thumb drive along with the database and photos, but can also maintain the data from installed copies on multiple computers.

Previously I used pencil and paper, but not very effectively. I'm migrating the data I have to digital, but being methodical about it since I started the computer records well before I rediscovered the missing paper data. (which was still a few years out of date when I found it).

So on one hand the paper records let me quickly establish a basic set of records to be filled in with details later (I only really recorded the car type and number by mfr), but on the other I have to cross check the data with the stuff I already entered to prevent duplicate entries. Kinda slow, but it's gotta be done somehow. And then there is filling in the details for those skeletal entries.

---PCJ

I used to know everything I had, just didn't know which boxes they were in.  Nowadays I can't remember where the boxes are but I know I have way too many.  I tried several times to inventory what I have but it would take me months if not years to list everything.  I was going to type more here but I got confused just thinking about it.  I guess I never will know what I have, or what I had, or where it is if I still have it.  Wow

Bum

Originally Posted by Matt Makens:

I use the old "Oh I already have this one" technique

I use a variation of that system, the "Why do I have 4 of these?" technique.

Jerry

I also use they "Why do I have four of these" technique. The last time I did that I was cleaning up the layout room and organizing trains on the dipslay shelves when i kept noticing I had all these grey CN wet noodle cylindrical hoppers, nothing special about them. I asked myself "Why do I have so many of these lame hoppers" then I took one off the shelf and looked at the other side. Apparently I have a whole bunch of CN rainbow hoppers. They are just a rainbow on one side

Look like this on one side

Look like this on the other

sinclair,

Something to think about:  What if your collection was stolen, or, heaven forbid, your house was destroyed, or even worse, something happened to you?  A record of prices might make it easier to settle with an insurance company.  Also, I have a freight car which I see is going for about $250 on the _Bay.  I can imagine the executor of my estate, who knows nothing about trains, letting this go for two bucks!

Mark

I keep a piece of tightly folded paper with very small writing on it in my wallet. Occasionaly I'll update it. It helps when I hit the shows.

The index cards sound like a winner, I'll have to do that next inventory time.

Thanks, that's an awfully nice offer. It's in .fmp12 file extension, but my version is actually FMP13. It's also a huge file. I will see if I can clone it without some of the data, that should help make it smaller for sending. I started with one of their samples and butchered it to suit and it's grown. I probably over complicated it by quite a bit, that's probably the main problem with it. Data entry is cumbersome, it doesn't flow well. Probably because of too much data.

I'll see if I can put something small together (shrink it up some) that's able to fit through an email provider and send it to you. If you take one look and change your mind, believe me I will understand.  

Excel

Peter

I bring my wife along to shops and shows. When I look at an engine or car she tells me I have that one already. 

My case exactly!!!

Ill pay somebody to for their FileMaker database. Could come in handy

Access with Macros, forms, buttons & query-driven reports. Used it as a teaching tool for my students years ago. One of these days I'll put some code behind it.

I only have four engines and a handful of rolling stock so I have no need for an inventory system.

Chances are if the house gets robbed or destroyed, the computer with the file will go too, so still be without pricing.  As for value after I'm gone, I'm sure my family will be keeping the stuff.  We're a young family and my 1 year old is showing great interest in trains (I come home and he starts pointing at the trains on the shelf which is his way of saying get it down and run it.).  I don't collect them, I buy to run so they will all have lots of track time, and I only buy the cheap stuff so it has no worth to begin with.  But in the end, it's all stuff and you can't take it with you when you go, and it doesn't matter the worth in the end.  It is what it is.

Inventory?? Whachutalkinbout???

You mean I gotta take an inventory of all my trains? Does that include all the rivets too?

That sound too much like work. Trains are just a hobby aren't they???

Sign up for a DropBox Account at WWW.DROPBOX.COM. Lets you transfer large files to people