OpSig resources

OpSig has a lot of resources:

http://www.opsig.org/reso/

OpSig...

OpSig was my first stop actually, but I couldn't find a car card generator anywhere on the site. There are templates to make cards that you fill in by hand, you know, like they did in ancient times.   

I didn't see anything like an Excel file where you can enter all the car info and then print out cards with that info on them.  

Randy

Some freebie software

Have you searched this site? I've had good luck with Switchlist that also will let you make car cards. I'll give it a try. 

Computer age?

Hi Randy - I couldn't recall your exact era, but if you're not stuck on car cards, would computer lists be appropriate?  I'm not familiar with when they started to take hold, but just wondered if my RailQuik application might be useful for you.

You'd just have to have a good friend who knows Microsoft Access.

SwitchList

Well, Switchlist was never updated to allow the output of card cars and waybills. It would seem that all the effort that went into creating industries and listing the cars could be used to generate what you want. 

That said, the program was free and does a good job of making up switchlists for trains and destinations. I would be interested in having some car cards and waybills to make up an impromptu simple train without starting up the computer. Now one would have to go back and tell the computer that the cars are in new locations to work correctly - or move the cars to where the computer thinks they should be at the start of the session.

Neil

Just to clarify Neil, I didn't mean my reply as a response to yours.  I was only asking about computer lists being appropriate to determine if RailQuik was even a fit for Randy, not to question your suggested use of SwitchList.

1975...

I'm late Summer, 1975, Joe.  I have hand-written switch lists from the prototype from one industry, but my real issue is that I have industries where the same car is moved to four different spots through a session. It comes in loaded, gets unloaded, moved to a different location within the same industry, is loaded again, moved again, unloaded again, etc.   The only way I can see to make this happen easily is with a card assigned to each car, and to have the crew change the status of the car from loaded to unloaded and back to loaded.  

I'm open to hearing suggestions if anybody has a better way to make this happen. 

Thanks for the suggestion. 

Randy

Multiple moves

Pretty much any system can do that, the question is how much intervention do you want have do.  In this case CC&WB might be the best and be the most automatic, since it is ideal for a sequential movement of cars and can be advanced by the operators.

I think I have a spreadsheet based system that can meet your requirements, but it may be  couple days before I can get access to it.

EMRI?

Easy Model Railroad Inventory. Bill Brillinger hosts it on his site.  https://www.pdc.ca/rr/freebies/

Easy Model Railroad Inventory v8.5 - Written by Bob Langer

Easy Model Railroad Inventory is designed to inventory your model railroad assests including; rolling stock, locomotives, cars, structures, electronic equipment, books and more! Once the data has been entered you can view, query, report, and graph what you own, or print car cards and waybills for model railroad operations.

For support, please consult the  Manual (25MB) or visit the  EMRI facebook page.
System requirements: Windows 98, XP, Vista, or Windows 7, or later.
This software is provided free of charge and without warranty.

Excel Car Cards

I used Excel to print a two move (two sided) car cards that I can pass along to you.

Let me know and we can figure out how to get it to you.

Andy Hauser

MS Excel Generator

Silly me, I just looked and I have a copy of an Excel CC and an Excel WB generator.  I didn't write them and I can't remember who did, but I'm willing to share.  If you send me a PM with an email address, I can try and forward them to you Monday evening.

Dave Husman

RailQuick

Joe - Sorry I didn’t think of your program but I use a Mac so not sure it would work anyway. SwitchList, or any computer program, takes some time to set up and maintain so I can see the appeal of CC&WB’s, or even tab on cars. This has come up before so I won’t beat the horse.  

I also tried to download the CC & WB program from Github but could not get it to install. Dave’s Excel program or Access might be an easiest route as well. 

Excel Cards and Waybills

Chris van der Heide has an excel car card and waybill system on his Algoma Central Website:

http://vanderheide.ca/blog/2018/01/04/excel-car-cards-and-waybills/

I modified this for 4 cycle waybills and sent Chris the file but I don't see it posted on his website. I don't see any way to attach the file here.

Chris also has several

topics on this forum about his car cards, and related topics.  Search "car card heide" to find some of them.

Blair Smith

Excel

Randy, 

My wife set up on Excel this setup here:

Of course you see it’s set up on a waybill type format, and of course for Penn Central 

After I went and typed in all the information, they look like this:

I then printed them all out on 65 lb cardstock, then took the sheets to my local FedEx to cut the individual car cards out. These then I simply slid into the card holders from micro-Mark 

@Randy...

Randy,

You’re more than welcome to use that same format for your cards 

Minor car card rant

Something which I've mostly found amusing but occasionally irritating is how many car cards have large bold headers that say things like "Car Card", and waybills have large bold headers that say things like "Waybill", with the actual details like car marks and destination buried several lines down in smaller type.

The ranty bit... why the emphatic "Waybill" or "Car Card" labels?  Presumably you already know that, and if you don't you've got bigger problems.  What you actually need to know is very simple - car reporting marks and number, and where it's going.  Anything else is decoration.  Why not make those critical bits of information larger, bold, and at the top, rather than buried a few lines down in smaller type?

Whew.  OK, I just need to get that rant off my chest once every couple years .

I use small coin envelopes with the flap cut off (and shortened a little bit) for car cards and business card blanks for waybills.  You can get nice business card perforated sheets that are easy to run through a printer if you want to print them, and use stick on labels for the coin envelopes.  There are templates readily available for both to set up something like a mail merge with word.

PC computer lists

Just for the record Penn Central did use computer printouts but I think switch lists for the yard or industries may have still been made out by hand.  Cars all had a card, an IBM card that was key punched.

Robert

Excel based car cards

Here's how I did it...

https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/18272

Robert

Thanks Robert.  Given that, Randy could choose either method and be half-right , but I agree with Dave that car cards would be easier to automatically cycle through those spots and moves.

Car Cards

Thanks for the plug Brent.

Whoops, I really thought I had added a link on that post. I'll have to fix that.

Excel CC&WBB

My Excel spreadsheet is a variation of Chris Van der Heide's, so you can use his, since the links are already posted with instructions (an he is the creator).

Brent's 4-cycle Mod

I added the 4-cycle version from Brent to my blog article referenced above.

Thanks!

Chris - That is awesome. I just downloaded and both files opened right up. Now to figure out how to export my files from SwitchList so not to retype everything I've done.