As a challenging 2022 draws to a close, we look back on a year that has seen Railcam continue to grow with numerous camera additions and upgrades, website and back office upgrades, and continued improvements of our data and diagrams, putting them right up there with the best the industry has to offer.
2022 has been a tough year for everyone, with spiralling prices across the board. At Railcam, we’ve seen the cost of new camera hardware and our monthly server bill rise (twice). At a time when everyone has seen their bills rise, we have managed to avoid a subscription increase since January. We will continue to do what we can to keep costs down in 2023.
New cameras came thick and fast throughout 2022, including our largest ever single installation project at the East Lancashire Railway, where 9 cameras have been installed!
Our mainline installations at Epping (in partnership with Epping Signal Cabin), Redruth (in partnership with Kernow Model Rail Centre), Garsdale and St Albans (in partnership with St Albans South Signal Box) have become firm favourites amongst our viewers.
Redruth (Scorrier) & Garsdale
Epping & St Albans
Over on the heritage side, it’s been another bumper year with major projects at Keighley & Worth Valley Railway and East Lancashire Railway, along with a second camera installed at Seaton Tramway.
Keighley & Worth Valley Railway – Damems Loop & Oakworth
East Lancashire Railway – Ramsbottom & Bury Bolton Street
It’s not all about new locations though, we have to continually maintain and upgrade existing locations, and 2022 has seen an extensive program of upgrades, including Apperley Bridge, Bushbury Junction, Cramlington, Crewe, Grateley, Horton-in-Ribblesdale, Newbury and Teignmouth.
Our data and diagrams team have also been extremely busy maintaining and updating signalling diagrams to keep them bang up-to-date and up there as one of the leading sources of live rail data in the UK.
Away from the main Railcam website, our social media presence has continued to grow, and become a thriving community of enthusiasts and industry people all getting involved. Subscriber numbers have continued to grow with YouTube now boasting in excess of 70k, with Facebook racking up 41k followers and Twitter approaching 18k. Our Facebook ‘Railcam Gallery’ page has also continued to grow, giving members the chance to screenshot and share their interesting Railcam ‘spots’ from our cameras.
As we look forward to 2023, we are undertaking our first event sponsorship, as we are lead sponsors for Rail Riders Railway Show at Crewe Heritage Centre on June 10/11. The Railcam team will be in attendance and we hope to have a stall set up showing off our cameras and diagrams, along with merchandise available to purchase. Come along and have a chat with us, it will be great to meet you all.
We would like to thank everyone who has made 2022 such a great success, from our installation team, back office, data & diagrams, social media, moderators and the many many contributors behind the scenes. Without their dedication we wouldn’t be able to do what we do.
We must also thank our fabulous camera hosts, without whom we would have nowhere to put our cameras! Each and every one of you form a small part of the Railcam machine.
Finally, our subscribers. Without our subscribers we wouldn’t be able to fund Railcam. Every subscription, wether it be a 1 month, 12 month or one of the numerous additional donations made, every penny helps us do what we do, for you.
We would like to wish everyone a very happy new year, and all the very best for 2023. Stay tuned as we have HUGE plans for the coming 12 months.
