Bradshaw:The Traffic Circular/Volume 2/Number 4

Welcome to the latest edition of the On Our Lines periodical newsletter, The Traffic Circular! You can find the entire archive of past Circulars here, and you can also sign up to receive the newsletter direct to your email inbox here. For those of you on our Discord server, we’ll also post every edition in #public-address as it’s published. A New Year A New Year is upon us and, whilst it’s only been a short time since the last edition of The Traffic Circular, we wanted to start things as we mean to go on with your round-up of all the latest from the On Our Lines community. We’ve a shorter edition than usual as a result, but it’s still a busy one! We held our first SimSig Session in a little while during the ‘awkward week’ between Christmas and New Year, and it was lovely to catch up with some old voices as well as welcome some new ones! Despite a few technical gremlins (we’re still not sure if it was a simulation bug or Jarley’s timetabling…) the Session was a relaxed and enjoyable one, focussing on the Exeter, Plymouth and Cornwall sims. We’re planning to get back into the rhythm of holding regular SimSig Sessions in 2023, with our first tentatively pencilled in for 4 February. All are welcome from absolute beginners to seasoned professionals – just bring a can-do attitude and the willingness to learn! Our first in-person social of the year is just around the corner: OverGround and Hills to 2023 sees us head out onto the network on 8 January to traverse a little-used railway link in north London and wash away those January blues! We’re meeting at Euston from 1030, but you’re welcome to drop in and out of the day as you please. We’ve also got three Transport Race dates confirmed so far for the year – 21 January, 25 March (Expert Mode) and 22 April. Tickets for all events are available now on Eventbrite, and we’re also hoping to announce a new addition to the Transport Race line-up in the very near future… Stations of the Month Our Stations of the Month challenge for 2022 has drawn to a conclusion – but fear not! The leaderboard has been wiped down and the competition started afresh for the new year – read on to see January’s pick. During December, we have had submissions for Balham (@dlpb#7369, @Thryduulf#8980, @Lcawte#2212, @jarley#2168), Colchester Town (@Thryduulf#8980, @jarley#2168), High Barnet (@dlpb#7369, @Thryduulf#8980, @Lcawte#2212) and Uckfield (@Lcawte#2212, @jarley#2168). Full details can be found here. And so, without further ado, it’s time to reveal the final state of the 2021/22 Stations of the Month leaderboard: Participant Entries Bonus points Total @Thryduulf#8980 41 18 59 @Jarley#2168 38 4 42 @dlpb#7369 17 3 20 @SharpSpiral#8351 10   10 @madmetroguy#8165 6   6 @Lcawte#2212 4   4 @Hazzles#8732 2 2 4 @goldenarrow#8573 2 2 4 @isbsp#7104 2 2 4 @Tubetrainboy#8551 3   3 @overground#4011 2   2 @J_Finney#8905 2   2 @ULTRA_4K_DJ#5821 1 1 2 @🦉🦉#9472 1   1 @casimmons#3091 1   1 @Minion_Josh_#8802 1   1 Sharon 1   1 dansoper  1   1 @Cheeky#1617 1   1 @tahan#9864 1   1 Didi 1   1 Congratulations to @dlpb#7369 who has accrued the most points (of our non-staff members) and as such wins the Stations of the Month competition for the year! We’ll be arranging to present you with a small prize to celebrate in due course… Now, onto 2023 – because we have a brand new pick of stations and a fresh board for you to rack up points against! For those new to the Stations of the Month challenge, all you have to do is visit one (or more) of our randomly selected stations from around the country, snap a photo and share it with us! There will be one National Rail station from each region of the country, one London Underground / DLR, one light rail/tram and one heritage railway station each month. Plus, the more creative your selfie is, the better – we’ll award a bonus point to the most creative in each category every month. The stations for January have been chosen and are listed below and in the January 2023 Stations of the Month thread in #challenges-on-our-lines, where you should post your pictures. The Stations of the Month for January 2023 RailMiles The end of the year also means the end of our 2022 RailMiles league! Here’s the final standing – together, On Our Lines members have travelled 159304 miles and 3 chains, which is over halfway to the Moon! Discord username RailMiles username Points @laurencec123#3791 laurencec123 37815mi 45ch @SharpSpiral#9351 Slaffter 29670mi 24ch @jarley#2168 jcmg 19058mi 48ch @BipedCroissant8#9479 KcEdwards 19054mi 35ch @Minion_Josh_#8802 minion_josh_ 12804mi 66ch @casimmons#3091 Girlonrails98 12067mi 54ch @J_Finney#8905 J_Finney 8656mi 77ch @Lcawte#2212 lcawte 7649mi 79ch @NickBrunning#8155 Nick_on_Platforms 5774mi 42ch @deadly#3721 deadly 3540mi 74ch @gsnedders#1742 gsnedders 3210mi 19ch A special shoutout also to @BipedCroissant8#9479 who travelled the most amount of miles (outside of our staff team) – 19054 miles and 35ch is very impressive. The league has now reset for 2023 and it’s time to do it all over again! If you’ve got RailMiles but you’re not part of the team, just ping @jarley#2168 on Discord or get in touch on our social media if you would like to be added. We’re also going to be launching monthly ‘spot challenges’ in the near future for those who like to travel but don’t rack up the miles that some do. Watch this space… Picture of the Month Don’t forget that you can enter up to three photos each month for our Picture of the Month competition! The winning photo, as chosen by our Patreons (@Ticket Holders) and Staff team, will be shared across our social media platforms for the following month, and immortalised here in The Traffic Circular forever! Our final winning entry of the year comes from @Tubetrainboy#8551 Untitled - @Tubetrainboy#88551 January's competition is open now - just share up to three of your best photos in the Picture of the Month - January 2023 thread on Discord. Credits Written and edited by Jarley (@jarley#2168).