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Cataloguing my own model railway collection


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On my smartphone, I already have an application for my DVD and Blu-ray discs and am looking for something similar but purely for model railways.

 

Does anyone know if there is a model railway database application (specifically for locomotives including EMU and DMU's) that can scan the UPC barcodes of the models you own and that also provides a good description of the product?

 

I know the model railway retail trade uses the UPC system of barcodes for their stock control purposes, so maybe they can help me find a solution to my cataloguing requirement.

 

Please circulate this post to anyone you think may have the answer to my dilemma.

 

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What a very good idea!  Even with my relatively small BLT, with 36 goods and 22 mineral wagons, I find it hard sometimes to remember exactly what wheels, buffers, or couplings are on which wagons, especially as these get swapped occasionally, or their provenance, and while I have on 3 or 4 occasions tried to build a suitable database, I have on each occasion lost the will to live and become distracted before even really getting under way!  

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8 hours ago, 4railsman said:

On my smartphone, I already have an application for my DVD and Blu-ray discs and am looking for something similar but purely for model railways.

 

Does anyone know if there is a model railway database application (specifically for locomotives including EMU and DMU's) that can scan the UPC barcodes of the models you own and that also provides a good description of the product?

 

I know the model railway retail trade uses the UPC system of barcodes for their stock control purposes, so maybe they can help me find a solution to my cataloguing requirement.

 

Please circulate this post to anyone you think may have the answer to my dilemma.

 

 

I have done something like you want, for two reasons.

 

A insurance.

B stock list 

 

I started with an Microsoft Access database but I have now gone over to an Excell spreadsheet. I have multiple tabs with various headings I.E. locomotives, Track ect. The info shows items, and a photo of it what it cost when brought and where from as well as other items as needed.  There is additionally a second spreadsheet that shows the DCC info for each loco, but this is somewhat not applicable in this case. The spreadsheet is still a work in progress  as I do find minor errors as I recently upgraded to the latest version of Excell, the file is now stored online as this gives me the ability to view data when at exhibitions to stop duplicating stock or to check stock levels.

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On 01/01/2020 at 21:04, Andymsa said:

 

 

I have done something like you want, for two reasons.

 

A insurance.

B stock list 

 

I started with an Microsoft Access database but I have now gone over to an Excell spreadsheet. I have multiple tabs with various headings I.E. locomotives, Track ect. The info shows items, and a photo of it what it cost when brought and where from as well as other items as needed.  There is additionally a second spreadsheet that shows the DCC info for each loco, but this is somewhat not applicable in this case. The spreadsheet is still a work in progress  as I do find minor errors as I recently upgraded to the latest version of Excell, the file is now stored online as this gives me the ability to view data when at exhibitions to stop duplicating stock or to check stock levels.

 

I too use Excel spreadsheets for the same reasons and have one listing all the wiring by colours / switch number etc for the LED lighting all printed and in a folder under the layout for quick reference.

 

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Regarding online inventories, are you sure you want someone else to know exactly what you have in your collection, possibly with its value? It's not hard for Google/Microsoft/Apple, etc, to tie up connections between such lists and someone's contact list, which may very well include your own address details. Imagine if that got into the hands of a hacker...

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I did my list on an OpenOffice spreadsheet (generic to and compatible with Excel) specifically for insurance purposes (loaded it by hand as in some circumstances there weren't/aren't barcodes). If you're doing it for insurance, don't forget to take photo of each item (with its box - if you have one). Do save your list and photos on a stick/card and keep it somewhere safe and fireproof.

 

There was another thread eons ago on here regarding various ways of using invisible marker pens as an additional identifier.

 

As IanJ. has alluded, I certainly would not put any of your stock info into the 'cloud'. The 'cloud' is just waiting to p*ss on someones parade.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

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5 hours ago, MalcT said:

 

I too use Excel spreadsheets for the same reasons and have one listing all the wiring by colours / switch number etc for the LED lighting all printed and in a folder under the layout for quick reference.

 


this is also on my to do list, with over 600 occupancy sections and rising it’s all in note books at the moment.

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3 hours ago, Ian J. said:

Regarding online inventories, are you sure you want someone else to know exactly what you have in your collection, possibly with its value? It's not hard for Google/Microsoft/Apple, etc, to tie up connections between such lists and someone's contact list, which may very well include your own address details. Imagine if that got into the hands of a hacker...


no risk like this for me, no contact lists or addresses stored online or locally on my computer or tablets. 

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11 hours ago, Philou said:

As IanJ. has alluded, I certainly would not put any of your stock info into the 'cloud'. The 'cloud' is just waiting to p*ss on someones parade.

 

What about data back up?  Without a secure off-site location to store backups, data is vulnerable to loss by fire or other localised physical risks.  And as the saying goes: if it's not backed up, it doesn't exist.  Most cloud backup services take incremental snapshots on at least a daily basis, which reliably gives a more recent recovery point than most private users will manage even if they do store backups on physical media off site.

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And without wanting to really make this into a cloud vs no cloud thing - a model railway inventory is way less important than wedding photos or my contacts.

 

While I am for data privacy, you are but a very small drop in a huge ocean for Google and Microsoft.  They already know more about you than you think.  I'd also expect hackers to be more interested in banks or retail rather than the huge big boys of the IT world.

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Very true about hackers.

 

as to off site backup, I have 3 backup systems two are in the house and the third in the railway building. All are connected so if the worst happens I’ll be very unlucky to lose all backups.

 

the only thing on the cloud is the railway inventory, it’s not really there for backup only so all my data is linked in real time so when at exhibition I can see exactly what stock I have from static grass to track ect. 

 

4 hours ago, Sir TophamHatt said:

And without wanting to really make this into a cloud vs no cloud thing - a model railway inventory is way less important than wedding photos or my contacts.

 

While I am for data privacy, you are but a very small drop in a huge ocean for Google and Microsoft.  They already know more about you than you think.  I'd also expect hackers to be more interested in banks or retail rather than the huge big boys of the IT world.

 

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Not sure why anyone thinks Microsoft/Google/Apple would be interested in your model collection. As for hackers, if they have managed to get into your mail/cloud account, I'm sure they really won't give a monkeys about how many A4s you may have, they will be after useful information like banking data and will be stuffing your credentials to find where else you have used them.

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On 09/01/2020 at 10:36, Sir TophamHatt said:

And without wanting to really make this into a cloud vs no cloud thing - a model railway inventory is way less important than wedding photos or my contacts.

 

While I am for data privacy, you are but a very small drop in a huge ocean for Google and Microsoft.  They already know more about you than you think.  I'd also expect hackers to be more interested in banks or retail rather than the huge big boys of the IT world.

 

 

All my receipts from Hattons and Rails got to my gmail account, so Google already knows most of what I own!

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It's not Google/Apple/Facebook, etc, it's whoever might get there hands on the data they hold. I'm amazed that we are sleep walking so fast into a zero privacy world. There is an inherent danger in having everything we do and everything we own known openly. It only takes a criminal to get their hands on a load of data from such sources, filter it for value, and make a connection between your address and your collection to decide that your property is one worth burgling.

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On ‎11‎/‎01‎/‎2020 at 21:08, Ian J. said:

It's not Google/Apple/Facebook, etc, it's whoever might get there hands on the data they hold. I'm amazed that we are sleep walking so fast into a zero privacy world. There is an inherent danger in having everything we do and everything we own known openly. It only takes a criminal to get their hands on a load of data from such sources, filter it for value, and make a connection between your address and your collection to decide that your property is one worth burgling.

 

While true, it's also highly unlikely.  Are they doing it now?  No.  Thieves are after cash machines or cars.  The days of people robbing TVs and Playstations are quite over.  It's all about conmen (the Hatton Garden Heist) or simply going after the cash (in my area there was a spate of cash machines being targeted using diggers from particular supermarkets).

 

There's so much more to worry about these days, if you're that way inclined.

If you're worried, I recommend LastPass.  Used by millions, makes having long and unique passwords easy.  Worried someone may get the master password?  I wouldn't be.  The company would be over forever if it was easy to break.  More fun is to use something like http://howsecureismypassword.net to check how secure passwords are.  Someone suggested typing their password in to a random website is a risk.  It isn't.  The website is dumb and can't read your files to know what websites you go on, and then what...  some sort of brute force attack to test which website your password was for?  For what?  To post on RM Web as you?   Ha ha.

 

 

Even more scary is the amount of data companies pass (sell) on without our knowledge.  For example my TV showed me an advert, which said was available at my local Tesco - naming... on the screen, the town where I live.  Perhaps ITV / C4 / BBC / Virgin Media passed on the fact I was located in this area.  I didn't consent to that.  But I did, when I signed up.  Did I read all the terms?  Did I hell!  Nobody does.

 

And yet when I started a petition on the Commons website to create a law that stops companies selling or gifting customer details to any other company (even group companies), it got less than 10 signatures.  Ergo - people don't care anymore.

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On 09/01/2020 at 10:36, Sir TophamHatt said:

And without wanting to really make this into a cloud vs no cloud thing - a model railway inventory is way less important than wedding photos or my contacts.

 

While I am for data privacy, you are but a very small drop in a huge ocean for Google and Microsoft.  They already know more about you than you think.  I'd also expect hackers to be more interested in banks or retail rather than the huge big boys of the IT world.

 

"You are established in traditional technology that is dying."

YEAH!!!!!

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On 11/01/2020 at 21:08, Ian J. said:

It's not Google/Apple/Facebook, etc, it's whoever might get there hands on the data they hold. I'm amazed that we are sleep walking so fast into a zero privacy world. There is an inherent danger in having everything we do and everything we own known openly. It only takes a criminal to get their hands on a load of data from such sources, filter it for value, and make a connection between your address and your collection to decide that your property is one worth burgling.

Online hackers are not looking for physical possessions unless they are Krugerands or other such precious objects.

 

People have computing and home entertainment systems worth as much or more than our toy train collections.

 

I don't believe there are people trading the details of contents of people's homes online.

 

Your personal details are more valuable as you can be copied and spoofed, hackers don't want to break into your home.

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@woodenhead Err ........ I wouldn't be too sure of the value of certain collections being less than the value of a TV or such items. Locos are relatively expensive, small and can easily be disposed. It's not simply that it might get stolen but how to replace stock that may no longer be produced?

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

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@woodenhead   I  would not be so sure there aren't people looking for physical possessions on line. Especially pristine, boxed small scale items which can be re sold easily,  "oh its me dear old farver in laws" sort of thing,   For that reason a good backed up list of what you own with copies of receipts etc would be invaluable if you were burgled or indeed want to sell your collection at any stage , or indeed  fake a burglary, we aren't all guaranteed to be 100% honest just because we are on RM web. Logically a pristine boxed N gauge loco will fetch as much as a Lap Top computer or a 40" TV but is much easier to carry.
My strategy is I really don't like anything which is box standard,  None of my stock is boxed, none is worth anything apart from as parts, they have non standard couplings, repaints, re wheeled, and my initials painted under neath the wagons and coaches.  All my locos have been photographed and backed up across different computers and the cloud.   What I don't have is receipts, physical or electronic apart from eBay receipts,  I know Uncle Charlie gave me one of my wagons for Christmas 1967 but I have no idea which one.  Actually if someone stole your physical collection and hacked your receipts they could big up their profits quite substantially, nick it, lie low for a year,   I must stop reading crime books.  

 

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