FAQ
What are invite codes and how do I get one?
CCMF Trains is in private preview, so new accounts require an invite code. Each existing member gets a small number of invites to share with friends and family they'd like to bring into the community.
If you don't have an invite, you can request to be added to the waitlist from the home page. We approve requests in small batches as capacity allows.
What's the difference between a Piece and a Scale Model?
A Scale Model is the canonical record of a manufacturer's product — e.g. "Lionel 6-18000 NYC J3a Hudson". One scale model is shared across the whole community.
A Piece is your physical copy of that scale model — the one sitting on your shelf or running on your layout. Two collectors who both own the same Hudson have two distinct Pieces but reference the same Scale Model record.
Why split them? It lets us share canonical data (specs, photos, MSRP) while still tracking the details that vary per copy (purchase price, condition, custom decals, your notes).
What does "Mark complete" do on a set?
Marking a set complete tells the community you own every member piece — even if you haven't logged each one individually yet. The set's progress bar jumps to 100% and the badge on the public set page shows the green "complete" state.
You can still add the individual pieces later for full provenance. Toggling "Mark complete" off restores the auto-calculated progress based on owned pieces.
Tip: if you logged all the pieces but the set still shows incomplete, double check that each piece references the right set membership — the set tracks which exact catalog numbers count toward completion.