Ask Casey, the helper

Casey is the site's AI helper. Ask her in your own words about your trains or the site, and she finds things, explains, and gets changes ready for you.

Meet Casey

A 1:39 video in her own voice: finding a train, adding one, talking to her and having answers read to you. Captions are on screen.

Read the transcript

Hi, I'm Casey, the AI helper here. Here's how I make this site different, and easy to use.

You don't have to learn any menus. Just ask me, in your own words. I look through your collection, and show you what I found, photo and all.

Adding a train is just as easy. Tell me what you got, the way you'd tell a friend. I fill in the details, and show you a card to check. Press Save it, and that's all. Nothing changes until you press the button. There it is, in your collection.

Rather not type? Press Record question, and just talk. (A visitor asks: "What's my collection worth?") And if you like, I'll read my answers out loud.

(Casey reads her answer.) Your collection is worth two thousand six hundred ninety-eight dollars by your own figures, across 11 items. You paid one thousand five hundred dollars in total. Three items still have no value, so the total could grow once they're filled in.

That's all there is to it. Ask me anything about your trains.

Step by step

On any page of your collection, tap the conductor in the bottom corner (Ask Casey).
Type your question, or tap the microphone on your phone's keyboard and say it. For example: "Do I have a Santa Fe F3?", "Where's my Hudson?" or "How do I print labels?"
Read the answer. Items it found show as cards with their photo; tap one to open it. A button takes you to the page it's talking about.
If you asked for a change ("The turbine is in the attic now", "I got a Lionel Hudson at the show; it goes in the basement cabinet"), the helper shows a card with what it will do. Check it and press the button. Nothing changes until you do; No thanks leaves everything as it was.
Tap the thumbs up or thumbs down under an answer to tell us whether it helped.

What she can help with

Finding items and where they're kept, whether you already have something (handy at a train show), what your collection adds up to, adding items, changing details, marking things sold or lent, moving many items at once, the want list and the Showcase, and how to do anything on the site. Choose Add a photo to send her a picture: she reads a box label to add the item, adds the photo to an item you already have, or keeps it as a receipt or appraisal. Ask for a public link to an item, a movie or your Showcase and she makes it for you to copy and send. Ask for a movie ("a Christmas movie of the trains in the basement, with the holiday music") and she picks the photos and gets it ready: press Make my movie, or Change it first to pick photos yourself. She can also tell you what you've shared and how often each link was opened, and turn links off. Rather talk than type? Press Record question, ask out loud (up to 3 minutes), then press Finish and send; Casey types up what you said and answers it. Turn on Read answers aloud above the box and she reads each answer to you out loud; Read it under an answer plays it again. She never makes up a price: for what something might be worth, she offers an AI value estimate (Look up what an item is worth).

Changes you confirm yourself

For your safety, some changes are made on their own page: the collection's name and family contact, inviting or removing people, your sign-in email and password, deleting your account, the subscription and payments, undoing an import, and the note to your family in the handover pack. Casey opens the page for you with what you asked for already filled in; check it and press the button there. She can write a first draft of the family note if you ask. She doesn't post in the forum for you (those are your words) and she never sends email to anyone.

Who can do what

Everyone in a collection can ask questions. Only owners and editors can press a change card, and nobody can while a collection is read-only. Settings, people and the subscription are for the owner.

Your chats

Start over begins a new chat. Past chats lists your recent ones, and you can delete any of them. Email me a copy of this chat sends it to your own sign-in email, for your records. If Casey gets something wrong, choose Something not right? Report a problem with this chat under the question box: it sends that chat, and a few words from you if you like, to the people who run the site so they can fix it. Only you see your chats. They're deleted automatically after a while, and they may be reviewed to improve the helper: see the privacy notice.

From the Add menu

+ Add → Tell Casey about it opens Casey with the start of a sentence ready. Say what you got, and Casey fills in an item for you to check.