Computer Software for Train Spotters

[Chrissp]

Hi All
What are the best software programs for your PC where you can keep track of all your photos, numbers seen, haulage and so on?
Thanks
Chris

 

[Tufty]

I don't know of any PC software but it's probably available somwhere.

However, you can all what you want at :-

http://www.railenthusiast.co.uk/

 

[deltic1989]

If you have a microsoft operating system, then keeping track of your photos is quite easy using the built in software just create the relevent folders in 'my documents'. Also a way to keep track of numbers and so on is to create a spreadsheet on exel.

 

[lm321412]

I suppose railmiles keeps your journeys/trains bashed.

http://thomas-cairns.co.uk/railmiles/

 

[starrymarkb]

You could make a spreadsheet in Open Office (free) Google Docs (online free) or Excel (pay)

If you are skilled you could make a database in Access (paid) or MySQL (free)

 

[g4mby]

What are the best software programs for your PC where you can keep track of all your photos, numbers seen, haulage and so on?

The only one that I've considered is LocoTrack. It's based on MS Access and will probably do all you want it to but how well I couldn't say. I couldn't actually run this on my desktop PC as that isn't Windows based.

I started recording my numbers and keeping various other lists back in the early 90s on a BBC Model B. I transferred everything to PC format a few years later and since then what I keep has grown enormously. Most of the complex stuff is in Word or Excel format but all my numbers and current stock lists are in plain text. A really good text editor that can search, count and manipulate text in whatever way I need has kept things going since then. Most of my text files have also been uploaded to a password protected web-site so everything is available to me wherever I am even on a mobile phone.

There's no way I would change to anything else now and entering over 30,000 numbers into a sightings database is just too much to think about. And then there's the ever increasing number of photographs. Just bear in mind that whatever you choose now you may be stuck with forever.

 

[Tom B]

If you have a microsoft operating system, then keeping track of your photos is quite easy using the built in software just create the relevent folders in 'my documents'. Also a way to keep track of numbers and so on is to create a spreadsheet on exel.

... other operating systems don't have directories?!

 

[ailsa]

Other operating systems have directories but only Microsoft has folders











Yes I am a Linux user

 

[tel]

Hi i've basically created my own locoshed on Word,and saved it to a usb stick so it can be editited.It's taken a long time but now its finished i've got all the locos and units listed and i red line each when i've photoed it.

Tel

 

[rail-britain]

I use Microsoft Excel
The document is then synched with my other computers to update to the latest date, replacing older ones

 

[Death]

If you are skilled you could make a database in Access (paid) or MySQL (free)

To expand a little: If you know a thing or two about Windows and would rather use an Access database (Over MySQL) and not pay for it, you can use the ODBC drivers supplied with Windows as per the following VB example:

Dim objConn, objRecordSet, strSQL
Set objConn = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
objConn.Open("Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)}; DBQ=" & strPathToDatabase & ";PASSWORD=" & strYouMustBeAMugIfYouThinkImTypingThatHere)
strSQL = "SELECT [fields] FROM [table];"
objRecordSet = objConn.Execute(strSQL)

'... Other code here ...

objConn.Close

Other operating systems have directories but only Microsoft has folders™

It's quite surprising just what large multinational™ corporations™ can trademark™ nowadays™, isn't it?

Hi i've basically created my own locoshed on Word,and saved it to a usb stick so it can be editited.It's taken a long time but now its finished i've got all the locos and units listed and i red line each when i've photoed it.

If ye are saving that file to a pen drive, I'd strongly recommend keeping a backup copy on thy computer as well. Pen drives are not only easy to lose, but the storage chips on them do wear out after a while...And a bad sector is the last thing ye'd want to find inside thy trainshed!