tubechallenge.com

ITFCShirts wrote: ↑24 Jul 2019, 12:26
Well surely it's enough to be recognised by this forum, rather than by GWR? You don't do R15 for the benefit of GWR! (and I should probably do a R15 at some point...). The GWR rules won't change when Battersea opens, so it's still the same issue. Besides, I'll take an improvement to my existing time as a starting point (and a route tweak is making me feel better about an improved time)

Yes agreed but when you have done over 25 see how enthusiastic you still are - The R15 is a different ball game, 12:30 start a 3 -5 hour challenge and very sociable...

I'm still very much hoping to do it again. Family life seriously limits my free time though. Maybe late June 2020. Prefer to do it during the light mornings/evenings.

I should like to point out that when battersea reopens a flood of times will appear.

dstock17 wrote: ↑27 Jul 2019, 07:20 I should like to point out that when battersea reopens a flood of times will appear.

The counter will be reset then, of course, but the Battersea extension won't add any real interest, will it? It will basically be just the equivalent of a 20-minute delay at Kennington compared to the present, with no real new routing opportunities. Crossrail, on the other hand, looks much more interesting.

-JMan

TeamHelsinki wrote: ↑29 Jul 2019, 00:14

dstock17 wrote: ↑27 Jul 2019, 07:20 I should like to point out that when battersea reopens a flood of times will appear.

The counter will be reset then, of course, but the Battersea extension won't add any real interest, will it? It will basically be just the equivalent of a 20-minute delay at Kennington compared to the present, with no real new routing opportunities. Crossrail, on the other hand, looks much more interesting.

-JMan

It would certainly mean a re write of many people's routes

If you think there are no new routing opportunities then I'd politely suggest that you're missing something(s).

Iain wrote: ↑29 Jul 2019, 10:55 If you think there are no new routing opportunities then I'd politely suggest that you're missing something(s).

Ouch. Never trust memory -- should have looked at the map before saying anything. Rookie mistake, my apologies.

-JMan

TeamHelsinki wrote: ↑29 Jul 2019, 23:28

Iain wrote: ↑29 Jul 2019, 10:55 If you think there are no new routing opportunities then I'd politely suggest that you're missing something(s).

Ouch. Never trust memory -- should have looked at the map before saying anything. Rookie mistake, my apologies.

-JMan

Say for example u had a route wanting a specific evening train and now presumably u now have extra 20 mins added in. You have to either re jig a part after that point or before that point to match up with ur previous routing. I shan't tell you what my strategy is but surfice to say it will

No need for an apology!

I don't want to say too much as I'll give my ideas away, but I have a few things I'm keen to look at once the WTTs come out

I’m still interested that people think GWR validation suddenly becomes easier when the spur opens, and that’s why people are waiting! It’s a tough time to beat, that’s the bottom line.

Cross rail.... personally, the more time spent not on a tube line is detrimental to overall time, so cross rail can only really help to correct deficiencies or bottlenecks in a route. If you’re trapsing back across central London on cross rail vs central line, you’re investing time not doing stations. Liverpool Street to Stratford - maybe? Heathrow spur only helps for those not doing a Heathrow start/finish.

September FNC it is....

ITFCShirts wrote: ↑11 Aug 2019, 10:35 I’m still interested that people think GWR validation suddenly becomes easier when the spur opens, and that’s why people are waiting! It’s a tough time to beat, that’s the bottom line.

Cross rail.... personally, the more time spent not on a tube line is detrimental to overall time, so cross rail can only really help to correct deficiencies or bottlenecks in a route. If you’re trapsing back across central London on cross rail vs central line, you’re investing time not doing stations. Liverpool Street to Stratford - maybe? Heathrow spur only helps for those not doing a Heathrow start/finish.

September FNC it is....

In theory I could go back out there and see if I could do a similar time. I need people to film me though or give me cameras and stuff to use.

dstock17 wrote: ↑11 Aug 2019, 11:08

ITFCShirts wrote: ↑11 Aug 2019, 10:35 I’m still interested that people think GWR validation suddenly becomes easier when the spur opens, and that’s why people are waiting! It’s a tough time to beat, that’s the bottom line.

Cross rail.... personally, the more time spent not on a tube line is detrimental to overall time, so cross rail can only really help to correct deficiencies or bottlenecks in a route. If you’re trapsing back across central London on cross rail vs central line, you’re investing time not doing stations. Liverpool Street to Stratford - maybe? Heathrow spur only helps for those not doing a Heathrow start/finish.

September FNC it is....

In theory I could go back out there and see if I could do a similar time. I need people to film me though or give me cameras and stuff to use.

Since it would be possible if fiddly to have two or more people with a GoPro or similar camera running all the time, with memory card and battery swaps staggered so that there would always be at least one person shooting, one would end up with a video covering the entire time, maybe edited split-screen to show both/all images at the same time (blackouts for the swaps). The end product could be both a video in real time lasting 16ish hours and a superfast version compressed to about one hour. This would methinks constitute conclusive proof of the attempt being done in the time recorded, showing all stations, door open/close, changes, runs, etc. (Why would witness statements be needed then, am tempted to ask?)

Oh, and there is of course a foolproof solution to the issue of independent overseers, easy but monstrously expensive: retain a law firm to put a couple of junior clerks on the job. That would tick both the "previously unknown" and "reliable" boxes.

-JMan

I suppose witness statements would prove that you were on the trains at the specified times, and you hadn't done any clever editing/manipulating of dates/times on the GoPros to create the video.

As pay solicitors to attend the start/finish, you might as well pay an official Guinness judge to do that (I don't know how much one costs).

Remember also that under GDPR, you are entitled to request any CCTV footage TfL hold of you. Don't try doing it for every station (because the CCTV footage isn't stored centrally - they have to send an evidence officer out to each station to review and collect the footage) but it might be useful for any stations you didn't manage to get a photo at. (I requested a copy of all the footage they had of me from the Park Challenge stations a couple of years ago under the Data Protection Act. They asked if I could limit the number of stations to 10. I told them I was an Information Rights officer myself and they sent me 15!) I don't know whether Guinness would accept TfL CCTV footage in lieu of 'independent witnesses' for the start and finish but there would always be a risk that the relevant camera turned out not to be working that day!