I am in the process of changing eras, so I have an entirely new fleet of freight cars that need card-cards. Is there any type of software available that can print them automatically from some kind of database? I have an Excel spreadsheet with all the cars’ vital statistics (type, roadname, number, length) that could be imported. I’d really like to avoid having to hand-write all these new car cards if at all possible.
Any feedback would be appreciated…
I’ve had good luck with Shenware Waybills, but the older version I own does not import from Excel. This might be a feature of newer versions.
If you have the basic data set out in individual cells, you should be able to set something up in Excel directly. I’ll play around with how to do this a little with my office computer tomorrow. One place to look is printing checks from data in a table, it’s a similar function.
Albion Software has a program called SHIP IT! with a separate Car Cards module.
I don’t know if it can import data saved with Microsoft Excel, and it is not a free program although I believe you can download a free “trial” version.
Gents, thank you all for replying!
Byron, I visited your Shenware link, and it appears that [now] they do support Excel import/export functionality.
In the meantime I’m also looking into using JMRI Operations software to create switchlists and manifests in lieu of car cards. My main concern with that is the steep learning curve.
Since you have the data in Excel already, why not lay out a template in Word and use mail-merge to print the cards? That way you can lay out the cards the way you want them.
That’s what I do for the Operations Road Show car cards and waybills.
I started out using pre-perforated sheets of Avery 3x5 file cards for the car cards, but the stock was a little too lightweight for my taste, so I shifted to just printing them on heavier card stock and cutting them out with a paper shear. By cutting them out yourself, you get the option of using a size other than 3x5, should you desire it.
The secret to laying out forms like car cards and waybills in Word is to use tables to position everything where you want it to be.