and locations along the railroad. The YV was only 77 miles long and
only had 10 locomotives over its entire life. That made developing a
filing system fairly simple using standard file folders.
But that initial simple folder system had an inherent problem, since
it was too easy to remove photos from their folders for a modeling
project, only to have them temporarily disappear on my model-
ing workbench. There was also no real way of keeping track of the
location, photographer, date taken, etc., for each photo, except for
minimal notes penciled on the back of the prints.
I eventually converted my growing collection of photos and file
folders into a system of binders with photos filed under a sys-
tematic numbering system [1]. Each photo was given a five-digit
number with the first two digits designating the subject and the
following three digits a simple numerical counter.
GETTING REAL |
4
2. Merced is the western terminus of the Yosemite Valley Rail-
road and is subject 10. Photographs of Merced are thus num-
bered 10001, 10002, and so forth. The “location” subjects are
followed by the locomotives and equipment.
