National Rail challenge?

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jamesthegill
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Post by jamesthegill »

I did consider doing all the ones on the London Connections map, but that's consider as in "hey, that's a possibility for another time".
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Re: national rail challenge?

Post by palkanetoijala31 »

Well i have been doing some research for this on and off when i have time have found that it is easier to travel from totnes to paignton yeovil pen mill to yeovil junction and Kyle of lochalsh to mallaig and seems i be doing a lot of cycling in scotland and wales to get between various points.

Have the whole of Scotland roughly covered now still working on the Glasgow Edinburgh areas which r built up and confusing.
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Wanstead
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Post by Wanstead »

palkanetoijala31 wrote:Have the whole of Scotland roughly covered now still working on the Glasgow Edinburgh areas which r built up and confusing.
Have you tried this map which has every NR station (and all the urban metros) on it?
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Mitchell&BrownLook
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Post by Mitchell&BrownLook »

That map is highly impressive Wanstead, and therefore a hell of a find.

However it is missing a few of the parliamentary lines and stations, that's those that still maintain a service so that officially they still exist thus ensuring that the train operating company does not have to shut your local station, as this is supposed to be both a very time consuming and costly process for the company, and therefore it is cheaper for them to run an excuse of a service. The fact that the map doesn't show them is far from your fault Wanstead, it's the stupid legal technicalities.

Sorry but I'm going to have to start my rant on this topic. What really irritates me about this whole situation is that the train operating companies often claim there isn't enough demand for their services and that therefore the station doesn't warrant a service at all, but because of the law they have to stop a train there. Surely the only reason why there isn't enough demand at that station is that there isn't much of a service in the first place? People can only catch the train from the train station if the train stops there instead of whizzing right through it! Therefore it follows that even if you live right next to the station you will find other ways of getting to work, as you simply can't catch the train from there. No doubt if these stations are unmanned and never used they are also a target to vandals, which if they are they reduce the value of your house (if you live next door) and it's an eye sore too. Even if there are no vandals, it still costs to maintain the station so that it isn't closed by the Health and Safety Executive for being dangerous. Either get rid of the legal ruling or increase the service, and decide that on a case by case basis, and by doing so you will either make the station more effective for travelers or you will reduce the cost to the tax payer. Rant over.

Going back to the map I can understand that Watford West isn't shown, after all trains have been suspended since 1996 but I believe the monthly rail replacement bus service does still run, as technically the line is still open even if it's overgrown and bridges have been removed. However while the map does correctly mark the weekly service at Gainsboruogh Central, and the Saturday only services nearby at Kirton Lindsey & Brigg, it misses off the similar stations at Reddish South and Denton where there is just one service a week. (Denton's vandalised, thus part of the rant above. Just in case you think I'm one of those rail enthusiasts who has caught the only train from there, I haven't, but I've driven past it, and thus seen the graffiti.)

However the map does however list a few limited stop stations I know of (I'm sure that there are a lot more out there that i don't know of), those being Manchester United FC Halt (match-days only), Boardsley (mainly match-days), British Steel Redcar (when the shift ends) and staggeringly, I know, Teeside Airport. Yes a station beside one of our regional airports has only 2 trains on a Saturday, as an excuse for a timetable. I do know that the station is quite a trek from the terminal, but even still, surely you either shut it altogether or run more trains?

So all this raises quite a serious issue for you Andi, if and when you attempt the National Rail challenge. Have you got a list of the stations from Guinness as to where you need to visit for the record to be valid? It's probably a worthwhile precaution in case you ever do the challenge and submit your time, only for them to come back and say "well you missed off x, y and z so your record is invalid." Also, which record would you aim for: the pass through each station record (about a week) or the stop at each station record (about a month)? I'm guessing the former, but with you it's possible that it's the latter!

Best of luck with it, I'll certainly do some of it with you if you ever go for it.
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Re: national rail challenge?

Post by Wanstead »

Mitchell&BrownLook wrote:That map is highly impressive Wanstead, and therefore a hell of a find.

However it is missing a few of the parliamentary lines and stations, that's those that still maintain a service so that officially they still exist thus ensuring that the train operating company does not have to shut your local station, as this is supposed to be both a very time consuming and costly process for the company, and therefore it is cheaper for them to run an excuse of a service. The fact that the map doesn't show them is far from your fault Wanstead, it's the stupid legal technicalities.
Ah yes, the Parliamentary Trains. I don't know if this list is definitive, but as has been said, it's going to present a huge problem to your overall time to accommodate these. I imagine Guinness deem these necessary visits in order to complete the network, even the 'replacement' bus serving Watford West, etc.

The real difficulty could arise with Lympstone Commando. You will have to pass through without stopping as it's a request stop for military personnel only, but I guess Guinness would allow this. (Even if someone does hail the train/request it to stop, you won't be able to step out for a photo.)
Last edited by Wanstead on 29 Dec 2009, 09:40, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Wanstead »

Soup Dragon wrote:How many NR stations are their inside zones 1-6? I counted at least 300 and then got bored. Given the frequency of service I don't think this could be achieved in 2 days but if somebody wants to prove me wrong feel free to give it a go!
Number of stations by network within the Travelcard area (not the same as Connections Map as that shows stations just outside as well):

Underground: 270
Overground: 57
Wombling Free DLR: 40
Tramlink: 39
National Rail: 302

Total: 620 (obviously some stations serve more than one network)
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Mitchell&BrownLook
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Re: National Rail challenge?

Post by Mitchell&BrownLook »

As much as I despise Wikipedia those pages are very interesting, and surprisingly for that website, they seem well cared for. I didn't know that we had any request stops on the railways, but I'd like to think that if a station is a request stop the train only has to be scheduled to stop there for your record to count. That's much like the Metropolitan Line and the various express trains, and it was this philosophy that I adopted for the Sheffield Supertram. You'd certainly be a menace to the conductor and driver if you requested to stop at Lympstone Commando and then didn't get off, and it would also be tricky to explain what you are doing there to the solider on sentry duty!
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Re: National Rail challenge?

Post by tubeguru »

Mitchell&BrownLook wrote:As much as I despise Wikipedia those pages are very interesting, and surprisingly for that website, they seem well cared for. I didn't know that we had any request stops on the railways, but I'd like to think that if a station is a request stop the train only has to be scheduled to stop there for your record to count. That's much like the Metropolitan Line and the various express trains, and it was this philosophy that I adopted for the Sheffield Supertram. You'd certainly be a menace to the conductor and driver if you requested to stop at Lympstone Commando and then didn't get off, and it would also be tricky to explain what you are doing there to the solider on sentry duty!
We have quite a few request stops on Great Western including between Bath Spa and Westbury on the Bradford-on-Avon branch. A lot of the stops to the west of Swansea on the way to Pembroke/Haverfordwest are also requests.
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Re: National Rail challenge?

Post by palkanetoijala31 »

I havent had the reply from Guinness yet im hoping that they allow pass throughs for certain stations that are impossible to visit by design circumstances or whatever.
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Post by tubeguru »

I already have plans for a holiday involving visiting all the National Rail stations in Scotland. An acquaintance of mine did it a few years ago and has furnished me with his itinerary. It won't be next summer though - we're off back to the Lake District to climb some more mountains.
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Re: National Rail challenge?

Post by RichieG »

I remember talking to Andi about this back at the Darts Challenge day and I mentioned the fact that some lines you'd have to do twice to get all the stations. For instance, the Barnstaple - Exeter line you would have to do at least twice as I'm sure that there are some stations that the train stops* at on some trips but not others, and ones that it doesn't stop at it will stop at another trip while missing out stations that it did earlier. I also suggested that I think (but this may not be GWR rules) that if a train is permitted to stop (ie a request stop) but doesn't (because nobody wants to join or depart the service there) then it should count. Which would also mean that Lympstone Commando is taken care of as - from what I have heard - the train is only allowed to stop there for military personnel who have their IDs on, not even NR/FGW staff are allowed to alight there.
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Re: National Rail challenge?

Post by Starkey7 »

I'm sure that if you explained that you were attempting the record, then the conductor might be up for stopping at all stops.
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Re: National Rail challenge?

Post by tubeguru »

Starkey7 wrote:I'm sure that if you explained that you were attempting the record, then the conductor might be up for stopping at all stops.
And if you get one who is on his way home to book off he probably won't.
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Re: National Rail challenge?

Post by The Orange One »

Root wrote:This would, indeed, be far too much for one day.

I have a novel alternative though: Zone 1 National Rail. Yes, you'd have to arrive or depart using NR from every terminus in Zone 1, plus the Thameslink "thru"-line. Some of them are easy, some of them involve going non-stop to Harrow-On-The-Hill or Wembley...
I had no idea that this had been mentioned before!!! Yes, Luton would have been difficult, and the modern version (trialled back in March) is a lot easier.
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Re: National Rail challenge?

Post by palkanetoijala31 »

Well a certain tube challenger who prefers to remain nameless is actually writing off to guinness to see if this record is still acceptable,what the rules are on request stops etc? can u stop the watch at the end of day?

what is the actual current record? how many actual stations are there? and what is included is london underground included doubt it etc.

IS there anybody willing to actually try this out its a route really not for runners but walkers of course as the fatigue factor would be involved.

i have a rudimentary route that i have been working on for years just wondered if anybody fancies it or has even thought about it?

a 14 day all line rover standard class is £724 less if u have railcards etc obviously some accommodation would have to be paid for and we take advantage of all the sleeper trains possible.
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