Trainspotting Logs - what do you do?

[AJM580]

I use a notebook, then transfer details to excel spreadsheets for sightings and haulage

 

[Peter C]

I use a notebook, then transfer details to excel spreadsheets for sightings and haulage

Interesting. I use Trainspotter, which allows me to easily keep track of my sightings and also lets me export to Excel.

-Peter

 

[bearhugger]

Is Spotlog up to date with hybrid formations?
DMU 175109 has 3 coaches from 3 different units.

The datasets for Spotlog are updated regularly. Sometimes some are updated daily - depends on the changes and who does the updates I suppose.

 

[olympus]

I only record numbers seen while taking photographs, so there's an instant record in the camera. The software I use for organising photographs allows arbitrary tags, so I use the locomotive or set number as a tag and the computer gives me a list of the numbers I've seen.

 

[Mrgoodspeed]

Hello,

I’m the developer of SpotLog. A few comments:

• I originally wrote Spotlog to run on Android for my own use when on trips to Switzerland.
• Yes, it’s not the prettiest - I’m always more concerned with function and data. We do have plans to improve the looks, and I’m already working on a major rework of the code that will (hopefully) be published towards the end of the year.
• Android version is free. I have to charge for the IOS version as Apple charge me $100 / year to be in the App Store.
• SpotLog’s data is managed and edited by the users - a bit like a wiki - we do have checking and verification. It’s not perfect, we do it in our spare time, and we welcome updates. (As above)
• SpotLog is also different to the other app, as we have datasets for more than UK. Mainly Europe, Particularly Switzerland, but we will soon have coming on line datasets for Canada.

And welcome to all the new users who have downloaded SpotLog this weekend.

 

[03_179]

Spotlog everytime.
I'm a beta tester as well.

The 'books' are updated regularly and have tje current scene, the older BR days book and even now 1962 book as well as coaching stock, departmental and some track machines and international books too.

Spotlog also has a voice recording facility as well.

The best app out there and now is available on iPhone too.

 

[87electric]

Spotlog is not for me. Books and Apps are only as good as the detail that is inputted.

I took a look at the DMU 175 section.

175005 is wrongly listed with 50755, it should be 50705.

 

[Mrgoodspeed]

Fair enough, we will get that corrected ASAP. I would point out that the most popular series of books is not without error ... and takes a lot longer to correct.

But seriously, SpotLog is a group effort. Some people look at the problems, and say “its not perfect, so I wont use it”, that’s their choice. Others have got involved and helped correct the issues and got a lot out of it.

 

[Bezza49]

Hey all.

I was a former stopper as a child through 1991 to 1999 until I discovered women and alcohol

However, now happily married, by chance I started getting interested again around 2016 and restarted spotting fully in 2017. My job involves going to meetings all over the UK, although currently not as much as previously, whilst I am on my travels it helps me clock off different locos and units which is a fun pastime.

I take no pictures (except occasionally) and log all my sightings on my phone - I use "ColorNote" app on Android. From there I then upload all sightings to Trainlogger (paid subscription) which I find a fantastic site, especially now it includes Network Rail / on-track machines etc.

Retrospectively I wish I had recorded where a train was going from and to, especially to compare where I've seen a train before. But I just get the number and naturally the location seen. Having spent 2.5 years not doing it, feel it wouldn't be representative to start doing it now!

 

[Peter C]

Hey all.

I was a former stopper as a child through 1991 to 1999 until I discovered women and alcohol

However, now happily married, by chance I started getting interested again around 2016 and restarted spotting fully in 2017. My job involves going to meetings all over the UK, although currently not as much as previously, whilst I am on my travels it helps me clock off different locos and units which is a fun pastime.

I take no pictures (except occasionally) and log all my sightings on my phone - I use "ColorNote" app on Android. From there I then upload all sightings to Trainlogger (paid subscription) which I find a fantastic site, especially now it includes Network Rail / on-track machines etc.

Retrospectively I wish I had recorded where a train was going from and to, especially to compare where I've seen a train before. But I just get the number and naturally the location seen. Having spent 2.5 years not doing it, feel it wouldn't be representative to start doing it now!

Interesting! I have started recording services as I find it easier to then work out which units start working which services/diagrams.

-Peter

 

[sftfan1909]

I started properly noting my journeys at the very beginning of this year and started afresh, i.e. only trains I've travelled on since then count. I don't log trains I see, only ones I actually travel on, and for me this is any combination of locos/units that make up the train. For example, if my train is 2x142 and I only sit in one of them, I still count both.

When I'm out, I use my phone to take note of what is forming the service, the departure time from the station I boarded at and the stations I am travelling between. Once I'm home I have a spreadsheet I add all my journeys to and I use this to calculate some statistics as well as be a reference for everything I've done. I have (outdated) copies of the BR pocket books that I use to cross off numbers and keep track of what units I need to travel on. I also have a notebook for anything that isn't in them I travel on, which at present is the 80x family and the 345s. Finally I have a copy of the blue route map with all the lines I have done coloured red and all the stations I have visited highlighted.

Taking notes and being able to see what I've done is very rewarding and I'm sure I'll enjoy looking back on it in the future

 

[03_179]

It's great to look back on old haulages and days out.

I have a series on my blog called 'Blast From The Past' where anyone can send me a list of their trips and I'll put them on. Roy B has been on trains for years and has contributed some great logs.

 

[87electric]

I started properly noting my journeys at the very beginning of this year and started afresh, i.e. only trains I've travelled on since then count. I don't log trains I see, only ones I actually travel on, and for me this is any combination of locos/units that make up the train.

You could also create a pdf from either realtimetrains or opentimetrains of the journey you take.
Label it with the haulage and actual journey part. It’s just another way I collect info.
It might appeal to you.

 

[theblackwatch]

WH Smith Black & Red here

 

[87electric]

WH Smith Black & Red here

Absolutely. Every ounce of my raw data is in Black & Reds.

 

[Spoorslag '70]

I started properly noting my journeys at the very beginning of this year and started afresh, i.e. only trains I've travelled on since then count. I don't log trains I see, only ones I actually travel on, and for me this is any combination of locos/units that make up the train. For example, if my train is 2x142 and I only sit in one of them, I still count both.

When I'm out, I use my phone to take note of what is forming the service, the departure time from the station I boarded at and the stations I am travelling between. Once I'm home I have a spreadsheet I add all my journeys to and I use this to calculate some statistics as well as be a reference for everything I've done. I have (outdated) copies of the BR pocket books that I use to cross off numbers and keep track of what units I need to travel on. I also have a notebook for anything that isn't in them I travel on, which at present is the 80x family and the 345s. Finally I have a copy of the blue route map with all the lines I have done coloured red and all the stations I have visited highlighted.

Taking notes and being able to see what I've done is very rewarding and I'm sure I'll enjoy looking back on it in the future

I am doing pretty much the same, with the difference being that I take most notes into a notebook and then just spent my time trying to keep some Google Sheets with what I have got and what not for haulage. I have started writing down numbers in 2018 and went relatively well with this system.

 

[Peter C]

It's very interesting to hear how many different ways of recording spots there is. I like the idea from @87electric about creating a .pdf from RTT; I'll go and try that with some of the spots in my notebook.

Thanks,

-Peter

 

[_toommm_]

For spotting, I use the TrainSpotter app from Google Play. I record the loco(s) or units, with the headcode and details of the service I see it on, and which loco is leading, along with which is trailing if it's double-headed, as shown below:



For haulage, I use RailMiles. I'll record both units that are on the service if they're both on there, but in the notes I'll write which one I actually rode in. On average, I do 3,500miles per month so doing an Excel document is too much work for me.

 

[03_179]

I tried the Trainspotter app and it was fairly out of date and it crashed too often for my liking.

I have an excel of haulage it does a lot of things like how many miles per year etc.

 

[woodhouse122]

dont really keep numbers aftter marking up my combined,but i log all my haulage in page a day diarys (got about 10 years worth of diarys sat on the shelf next to my platform 5 combined volumes )

 

[ValleyLines142]

Also, on a slightly different note, is there somewhere for forum users to share their spots? I think that, if it's not already an option, it could be a good future addition! The Trainspotter app allows you to export your sightings to CSV format, meaning that you can send them to others as an Excel Spreadsheet.

-Peter

There is a Trains You've Seen Working thread on this section of the forum.

 

[Peter C]

There is a Trains You've Seen Working thread on this section of the forum.

Thank you very much. I'll look into it.

-Peter

 

[433N]

You could also create a pdf from either realtimetrains or opentimetrains of the journey you take.
Label it with the haulage and actual journey part. It’s just another way I collect info.
It might appeal to you.

Just wondered ...

If I go and spend any time somewhere, I often save the RTT info as a webpage and keep it with photos of the day (and eventually in a rare quiet moment, assign train ID to service in an OpenOffice Calc spreadsheet because I have an aversion to Microsoft products). Is there any advantage of doing this as a pdf ?

For reasons that I don't quite understand (and haven't been bothered to find out), when you save a local copy of the webpage, you can still click to the train info on your local copy. So say you have at Spottertown a 09:15 departure of the Gricerville to Oblivion service, then clicking tells you that it is the 1B47 08:37 Gricerville to Oblivion with all the associated train running info on the day.

ON EDIT : This last bit apparently isn't true. I can still access train running info from last October but no running info from last May, only schedule and no click through info at all from Feb 2017. Apparently, this info isn't stored locally on my machine (PS : Not too bothered about that but interesting to know)

 

[87electric]

Just wondered ...

If I go and spend any time somewhere, I often save the RTT info as a webpage and keep it with photos of the day (and eventually in a rare quiet moment, assign train ID to service in an OpenOffice Calc spreadsheet because I have an aversion to Microsoft products). Is there any advantage of doing this as a pdf ?

For reasons that I don't quite understand (and haven't been bothered to find out), when you save a local copy of the webpage, you can still click to the train info on your local copy. So say you have at Spottertown a 09:15 departure of the Gricerville to Oblivion service, then clicking tells you that it is the 1B47 08:37 Gricerville to Oblivion with all the associated train running info on the day.

ON EDIT : This last bit apparently isn't true. I can still access train running info from last October but no running info from last May, only schedule and no click through info at all from Feb 2017. Apparently, this info isn't stored locally on my machine (PS : Not too bothered about that but interesting to know)

I only keep .PDF pages of actual journeys I have made. It’s a permanent reminder for me. Saves me writing stuff like “25 late leaving Leicester”. And I use OpenTimeTrains as RealTime has adverts.

 

[Peter C]

I only keep .PDF pages of actual journeys I have made. It’s a permanent reminder for me. Saves me writing stuff like “25 late leaving Leicester”. And I use OpenTimeTrains as RealTime has adverts.

Interesting. Personally, even though I use .pdf saves of webpages, I still tend to make note of the timings of a train which I have either seen or ridden on. This is because I like to make my own records and this way I can record exactly what I want.
I use RTT for times and OTT for maps, although as I rarely travel on a mainline the maps I want aren't always open to the public.

-Peter

 

[Oscar46016]

Does the spotlog app allow you to upload and download into excel or something similar?

 

[03_179]

You can import a csv or a xml file to Spotlog.

In Spotlog you could create a report which is in html like a webpage.

 

[Mrgoodspeed]

Current versions of SpotLog have limited import and export. Mainly XML import/export - which can be imported into Excel with a bit of fiddling.

There is a new version - currently in beta test - which already has import from XLS and CSV, it has export to XML at the moment, and will have export to CSV before long. Hopefully the new version will be published before the new year.

MRG