After starting the #PupAllTheStations hashtag on Twitter and adding the map to the website, one of the most frequent questions is “how do I pup a station?”. If you’ve ever pondered this question, then this is the page for you! By the end of it, you’ll have all the knowledge you need on how to take part in the project, and how to add to Condor’s workload on the Backlog page. Let’s break it down into a handy 3 point plan…
There are some pups out there who over complicate this step. The amount of comments saying “I would have pupped X station, but someone already has it” is far too large. To put it simply, if you find a station you want to pup – pup it! Has anyone done it before? It doesn’t matter. Everyone gets added to either the map or the blog (depending on whether Condor has pupped the station already or not). There’s a great number of stations that have been visited by multiple pups, and that station would be even better with your contribution added to it.
Another thing that seems to stop pups wanting to pup a station is it not being in the British Isles. This also does not matter. While Condor isn’t looking to visit international stations, the map is worldwide. Any railway station, in any country. It’s all valid, and all good. There is no excuse. If you’re a pup in another country, feel free to take part in the project. With your help, we can get pups in all countries filling up the map and flying the flag for the community all over the globe!
Of course, there will always be those who aren’t so comfortable pupping in a public setting, which is fair and fine. However, you can still take part. Lots of stations are quiet ones, especially when they’re outside of major populous locations, These stations often have completely empty platforms for much of the day. If you’re not confident in putting your hood on in public, why not do it in the safely of an empty station? The hood only needs to be on for the duration of taking the photo, and it can help boost confidence in being out and proud as your puppy self. See how you feel, and go from there.
With all that said, if you have your hood with you and you’re at a railway station, you might as well move on to step 2.
The hardest part of the whole process – taking a selfie. Okay, it’s not quite as easy as a normal selfie as a good photo for Pup All The Stations has a few requirements. Mostly keeping yourself in frame, with the station sign being unobscured. That’s it. Not forgetting to be wearing your pup hood, of course. An ear getting in way of the sign a little bit is fine, but try to avoid standing directly in front of the sign unless it’s high enough that you can keep your ears clear of the name. Folks will need to be able to read what the sign says, after all. Landscape photos are generally the easier ones to achieve this, especially if the station has a long name. For Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch the photographer had to stand on the opposing platform and zoom in a bit, so you can use that technique to help if you are struggling to find a good angle. If you have a friend (who may or may not be another pup) to help take the photo, even better! Many paws make light work, as they say. There is also that feeling of safety in numbers, so if you aren’t so confident with pupping publicly, having someone else there with you may actually help. It might take a few attempts to get the “perfect picture”, but once you’re happy with what you have it’s time to move on to step 3.
Once you have a photo you’re pleased with and you want to get it added to the map (or the blog if Condor’s already visited the station), it’s now time to share it out to the world. There’s many different ways you can do this, but the easiest methods are to post it to Twitter or Mastodon with the tag #PupAllTheStations. If you have a private Twitter account, or you don’t want to publicly post your photos on your socials, you can give either @CondorBriarpup or @PupTheStations a DM to send your pics. For Mastodon, the username is either @pupallthestations@barkclub.xyz or @CondorBriarpup@woof.group. Alternatively, you can message Condor directly via Telegram @CondorBriarpup (reasonably active) or Discord at CondorBriarpup#0295 (rarely active). Once sent to Condor, they’ll get added to the Backlog page before eventually appearing on the map or blog.
That’s it. It’s as easy as that to pup a station. Three simple steps, and you too can be immortalised on the map, or in the blog if Condor has already paid the station a visit. You can now take this knowledge out about into the world and get those stations pupped. There’s a lot of them out there, so go and have an adventure. More importantly, don’t forget to have fun!