Model Railroad Consist

How do I sync my data between Windows and my phone or tablet?

If you have OneDrive, Google Drive, or other cloud storage providers installed on Windows and your mobile device:

On Windows, to sync to mobile, go to Backup & Restore and click the Save button in the Save to local option, and save to your provider's designated folder. On your mobile device, tap Restore Database File on the settings page to open your file from cloud storage.

Syncing via USB:

Go to Backup & Restore and click the Save button in the Save to local option, and save to your desired location. Plug your device into your PC and ensure your connection type is File Transfer (this may differ depending on your device). Then from Windows Explorer, copy the database file (which will have a .consist file extension) to your mobile device. The Documents folder is recommended. Then from the mobile app, tap the Restore Database File on the Settings page, and select your database file.

Syncing from mobile:

Tap Backup Database File on the settings page, and save your database to a location of your choosing. The Documents folder is recommended. Then use the USB method above to sync the file to your PC. Click the Open button in the Open from local option on the Backup & Restore page to open your database.

What's the difference between Collections and Rosters?

Collections and rosters are similar in that both are a grouping of items that share a common denominator. However, collections are a higher-level grouping that only allows one collection per item. For instance, you might place all of your Amtrak passenger cars in a collection. Rosters, on the other hand, are more loosely defined, and items can be assigned to multiple rosters. For instance, you might have a roster composed of items whose prototypes were manufacturered prior to 1900 (e.g., "vintage"). You might also have a roster of just vintage passenger cars, where there may be some overlap with the previous roster.

How you comprise your collections and rosters is completely up to you, and each offers differing views of subsets of your inventory.