WE ARE MANY.
WE ARE RAILFANS.
Railfan-Emma
July 21st, 2020
Interview with Adrian Bradshaw, Director of Railcam UK
How did Railcam get started? I ran (still run) a little website covering Preston railway station (www.prestonstation.org.uk) - photos, history etc and a section on interesting stuff that might be passing there soon. At the back-end of 2009, I got an email via the website, from a guy called Alex Howarth who had received an IP-Cam as a birthday present. Somewhat confused at what he was expected to do with a CCTV camera, he settled on fixing it to the back fence of his home in Euxton, Preston, where the West Coast Main Line passes a few feet away. He quickly wondered whether other people might be interested in watching it, so got in touch.
How has it grown over since the first camera was installed? For a very short time, the Euxton camera had a page on the Preston site, but just weeks later gained its own website wcmlcam.org.uk. The thing that really made a difference in those early days was the fact that the streaming service came with a chat-room. That meant that a "community" very quickly coalesced around the camera and many of the people who are still involved today, including my fellow directors Andy Jebb and Mike Birtles, found us in those very early days. Alex eventually emigrated to Australia, so the Euxton camera was lost, but by then the number of cameras had long since passed double-figures. Cameras at Barking and Cramlington were the first to join Euxton and we still have those today (much-upgraded).
By 2011, the "WCML Cam" name was no longer appropriate and we became "Railcam". In the early days, we had to go cap-in-hand to our users/watchers for money to buy new cameras, but our "Supporter" scheme - a subscription by any other name - changed all that and the growth of the site really got moving.
How many cameras do you currently have around the UK? I lose track! We passed the 70 mark last year and we are adding new cameras all the time - lockdown excepted. Just before COVID-19 hit, we already had a long list of potential sites and more were offered during lockdown. Some of them are going to be pretty special and it's great to be working with the rail industry itself now, with Network Rail, BTP and TOCs being actively supportive of what we do. If you include our international cameras and other "guest" streams, the total is already over 100!
What other resources does Railcam offer? A few years ago, in response to a Government initiative for "open data", Network Rail made a suite of live rail data available to developers. A couple of us, with very little idea of what we were doing, had a tinker around with the train movement feeds and produced some of the first live signalling diagrams available outside the rail industry. Since then, Railcam members with considerable industry experience, have taken on the huge task of plotting-out the diagrams.
Our diagrams are now the most detailed (dare I say "nerdy" ?) available and cover all of the UK where data is available. We are often the first with updated diagrams when engineering projects are completed and even have diagrams for non-live areas of the country. Additionally, we a provide a system with schedule and live ("TRUST") information, specifically geared towards the enthusiast. It allows users to record loco and unit numbers which, are shared to other users of the system - a sort of collaborative/crowd-sourced "TOPS" system. The diagrams and live data are a natural fit with the cameras and the two are integrated to provide information about what is passing each camera.
Have you seen an increase in users since the COVID-19 lockdown? So many businesses and groups have struggled during lockdown but for us, it's been mixed blessings. With so many people stuck at home, it's perhaps not surprising that existing users have been watching the cameras more, and there has been a substantial influx of new members.
The down-side is that the cameras have been quiet, with almost nothing to watch at our heritage sites. We also had to put our ambitious plans on hold for new cameras and upgrades. Happily though, we've now been able to restart some of that work, taking advantage of attractions being closed, to safely carry out work at Railworld in Peterborough and at the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway.
How did #spottingfromhome and #spottingfromwork get going and how has that gone? I've thrown this question over to Jamie, who heads our Social Media presence: In a nutshell I started it because of a photo of 3 enthusiasts out photographing after lockdown restrictions came into force, which was giving all enthusiasts a bad name. We encouraged enthusiasts to use our cameras and share their #SpottingFromHome photos, which extended to rail workers sharing their #SpottingFromWork photos. It was a huge success which lead to over 90 million Tweet interactions over 89 days, and involved many TOC & FOC’s as well as other industry leaders including BTP.
What cameras are you keen to add in the future? It's a long list! We're in the happy situation of only considering the best locations now. Any new camera needs to offer something new or special - busy locations, picturesque locations or covering an area of the country we don't currently have. We are looking at a couple of more scenic views just at the moment and it would be nice to add a camera covering the iconic Forth Bridge.
What's the best thing seen from one of your cameras since launch? Perhaps the most interesting thing is the one that got away... We had the original camera at Dawlish, but it was unfortunately removed just days before the storm hit which washed-away part of the sea wall and the line itself. If only...
It's tough to choose any one thing and everybody has a different idea about what is interesting. For many, it's the old stuff that attracts attention and people's interests are often rooted in what they remember as a child. The "Flying Scotsman" is always popular and the view we got of "Mallard" from our newly-installed York ROC cameras was special, but for me, it's hard to beat the Duchess for steam or class 40 for diesel - both with the sound turned up loud.
What does your community like to see? We have a huge range of users; young and old. Steam is always popular, but for the younger contingent, anything new is interesting. With so much new stock coming into the country and older stuff appearing with new liveries in different parts of the country, there is always something new to watch out for. Generally though all the heritage stuff; diesel, steam or electric attract viewers in large numbers.
If you could add one camera to a line from history where would that be? For me, it would have to be early '80s BR blue nostalgia. I did my teenage spotting at Preston and at Manchester Victoria, but never took a single photograph. I'd love to be able to relive those times. "Man Vic" in 1982. That would do me nicely. Otherwise, I'd like to be able to experience Preston in steam days - perhaps early 60s.
How can people get more involved in Railcam UK? We have a small tight-knit group who run the core of Railcam and a group who are involved with a whole range of things from chat-moderation to managing the 1000s of still-images which the cameras produce every day. The chatroom has a number of knowledgeable and helpful regulars who welcome anyone that wants to get involved and contribute to the wider Railcam community. We're always on the look-out for new camera locations though, so anyone who has a view of the railway from their home, can get in contact if they would like to host a Railcam web-cam.
