London + NYC Challenge

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mullardo
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London + NYC Challenge

Post by mullardo »

I'm thinking (Yes I might sound mad) of doing a London + New York challenge in Novemeber-ish)

This would be to go to all 268 london underground stations and all 468 new york subway stations.
This would be done in guiness style and the time would also include the flight time (whichever direction you decide)

Anyone willing to join me?
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Soup Dragon
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Re: London + NYC Challenge

Post by Soup Dragon »

If you are aiming to set the fastest possible time then I would suggest that you start in New York first as the NY Subway operates 24 hours. You can then aim to finish in New York in time to catch the BA112 at 19:25, which will give you an ETA of 06:25 at LHR Terminal 5, just don't bring any baggage with you or you could waste hours at T5 :lol:

Assuming the flight is on time and you can clear customs quickly then I would think that you could still manage to complete all 269 stations with an Amersham finish at around 01:30.

As for the total time that it would take, say 28 hours for New York, allow 2 hours for check-in at JFK, 7 hours flight time, 1 hour on arrival to clear customs etc..., 18 hours for London Underground. Total time = 56 hours.... that's not too bad!

I reckon this could be this years Children in Need challenge, we just need someone to sponsor the return flights to JFK.
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Re: London + NYC Challenge

Post by Root »

Craziness! What happens if you are delayed and miss your flight?

I think I'll just admire this one from a distance...
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Re: London + NYC Challenge

Post by mullardo »

Soup Dragon wrote:If you are aiming to set the fastest possible time then I would suggest that you start in New York first as the NY Subway operates 24 hours. You can then aim to finish in New York in time to catch the BA112 at 19:25, which will give you an ETA of 06:25 at LHR Terminal 5, just don't bring any baggage with you or you could waste hours at T5 :lol:

Assuming the flight is on time and you can clear customs quickly then I would think that you could still manage to complete all 269 stations with an Amersham finish at around 01:30.

As for the total time that it would take, say 28 hours for New York, allow 2 hours for check-in at JFK, 7 hours flight time, 1 hour on arrival to clear customs etc..., 18 hours for London Underground. Total time = 56 hours.... that's not too bad!

I reckon this could be this years Children in Need challenge, we just need someone to sponsor the return flights to JFK.
Ah but do plan which airline you use to give you the best terminal. Do you use BA to start london at T5 or do you try to get to T4
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Re: London + NYC Challenge

Post by Soup Dragon »

Root wrote:Craziness! What happens if you are delayed and miss your flight?

I think I'll just admire this one from a distance...
I guess that you might need to allow an extra couple of hours for New York just in case there are any delays along the way. It appears looking at NYC map that there are a couple of options for stations that you could finish at and then get to JFK by the AirTrain. If you allow 32 hours to do NYC then that brings the total time just over 60 hours. Of course you can't finish at Amersham at 01:30, so you would probably have to try for a Upminster finish.
Also I have found that the VS004 gets into Heathrow T3 at 06:20, so that might be the best option and the return fare is £342 including taxes! So here is the itinerary

15NOV 08:00 Commence the NYC Subway Challenge (00:00)
16NOV 16:00 Complete the NYC Subway Challenge (32h00m)
16NOV 16:30 Check-in for VS004 to London Heathrow (32h30m)
16NOV 18:10 Depart VS004, flight time 7h10m (34h10m)
17NOV 06:20 Arrive at Heathrow Terminal 3. (41h20m)
17NOV 07:00 Commence the LU Tube Challenge (42h00m)
18NOV 01:32 Arrive Upminster (60h32m)

Any takers??? :)
mullardo wrote:Ah but do plan which airline you use to give you the best terminal. Do you use BA to start london at T5 or do you try to get to T4
I'm not sure that there will be any JFK flights arriving at T4, so I think T3 will be the best option.
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Re: London + NYC Challenge

Post by CrunchySaviour »

:o That sounds utterly insane. If a couple of stations are unvisitable or one line suspended or whatever, it's all practically in vain, but this time you've spent ten times as much money as a 'normal' 268. Madness!
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Re: London + NYC Challenge

Post by mullardo »

Soup Dragon wrote:
15NOV 08:00 Commence the NYC Subway Challenge (00:00)
16NOV 16:00 Complete the NYC Subway Challenge (32h00m)
16NOV 16:30 Check-in for VS004 to London Heathrow (32h30m)
16NOV 18:10 Depart VS004, flight time 7h10m (34h10m)
17NOV 06:20 Arrive at Heathrow Terminal 3. (41h20m)
17NOV 07:00 Commence the LU Tube Challenge (42h00m)
18NOV 01:32 Arrive Upminster (60h32m)
I thought about it and if the flight is late arriving then you could have real problems getting to upminster - not only that but you have to go to chesham and then come back.

My Idea was thus:

WED 05:19 Start LU Tube Challenge from Chesham
THU 12:00ish Complete LU Tube at Heathrow (18h41m)
THU 06:00ish Check-in for flight at Heathrow (24h41m)
THU 08:30ish take off on flight to JFK 7h40m (27h11m)
THU 11:00 land (34h51m)
THU 12:00 start NYC challenge (35h51m)
FRI 20:00 complete challenge (67h51m)

Yes this idea takes 8 hours longer, but it is more secure.
If (somehow) you fail to complete LU in 19 hours, you could sleep on a bench where you fail and still make it to heathrow in time (in morning) to check in due to only having hand luggage. It then doesn't matter if the plane is late you still have 32h to complete NYC

But its 8 hours difference. 6 hours of that is down-time
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Re: London + NYC Challenge

Post by moley »

mullardo wrote:
My Idea was thus:

WED 05:19 Start LU Tube Challenge from Chesham
THU 12:00ish Complete LU Tube at Heathrow (18h41m)
THU 06:00ish Check-in for flight at Heathrow (24h41m)
THU 08:30ish take off on flight to JFK 7h40m (27h11m)
THU 11:00 land (34h51m)
THU 12:00 start NYC challenge (35h51m)
FRI 20:00 complete challenge (67h51m)

Yes this idea takes 8 hours longer, but it is more secure.
If (somehow) you fail to complete LU in 19 hours, you could sleep on a bench where you fail and still make it to heathrow in time (in morning) to check in due to only having hand luggage. It then doesn't matter if the plane is late you still have 32h to complete NYC

But its 8 hours difference. 6 hours of that is down-time
I like it but.. that is a lot of downwtime. Therefore if you are looking at overall time only, work it backwards and you get...

WED 10:30 Start LU Tube Challenge from Chesham
THU 02:00 Pause at terminus of a zone 6 station having got night bus from last terminus station.
THU 05:00ish Restart Tube Challenge
THU 10:00ish Check-in for flight at Heathrow
THU 12:00ish take off on flight to JFK 7h40m
THU 15:00 land
THU 16:00 start NYC challenge
FRI/Sat 00:00 complete challenge (61.5 hrs)

If you check in online - or ask someone to do it for you 8) then you can cut down the time at the airport.
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Re: London + NYC Challenge

Post by mullardo »

moley wrote:
mullardo wrote:
My Idea was thus:

WED 05:19 Start LU Tube Challenge from Chesham
THU 12:00ish Complete LU Tube at Heathrow (18h41m)
THU 06:00ish Check-in for flight at Heathrow (24h41m)
THU 08:30ish take off on flight to JFK 7h40m (27h11m)
THU 11:00 land (34h51m)
THU 12:00 start NYC challenge (35h51m)
FRI 20:00 complete challenge (67h51m)

Yes this idea takes 8 hours longer, but it is more secure.
If (somehow) you fail to complete LU in 19 hours, you could sleep on a bench where you fail and still make it to heathrow in time (in morning) to check in due to only having hand luggage. It then doesn't matter if the plane is late you still have 32h to complete NYC

But its 8 hours difference. 6 hours of that is down-time
I like it but.. that is a lot of downwtime. Therefore if you are looking at overall time only, work it backwards and you get...

WED 10:30 Start LU Tube Challenge from Chesham
THU 02:00 Pause at terminus of a zone 6 station having got night bus from last terminus station.
THU 05:00ish Restart Tube Challenge
THU 10:00ish Check-in for flight at Heathrow
THU 12:00ish take off on flight to JFK 7h40m
THU 15:00 land
THU 16:00 start NYC challenge
FRI/Sat 00:00 complete challenge (61.5 hrs)

If you check in online - or ask someone to do it for you 8) then you can cut down the time at the airport.
I like this, but it's 66.5h not 61.5 (You forgot the 5 hours time difference)
But this does shave time off. You could probably start a little later than 10:30 and still complete it by 10 the next morning.
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Re: London + NYC Challenge

Post by moley »

mullardo wrote:
I like this, but it's 66.5h not 61.5 (You forgot the 5 hours time difference)
But this does shave time off. You could probably start a little later than 10:30 and still complete it by 10 the next morning.
Ah, too true!
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Re: London + NYC Challenge

Post by CrunchySaviour »

The 5 hours time difference would surely not be taken into account! It takes the same amount of time doing the challenge in either direction (although arguably perhaps not to a stationary observer, relativistically speaking), and stopwatches do not distinguish between time zones.
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Re: London + NYC Challenge

Post by mullardo »

In the previous example moley had only given 2 hours for the flight and not the 7 hours it actually is.
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Re: London + NYC Challenge

Post by CrunchySaviour »

:o Aaaah.
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Re: London + NYC Challenge

Post by joy54 »

I have been looking into this and browsing various websites and the NYC challenge looks immense
[/quote]If you are attempting a Class B record, it is important to note that all 468 stations in the system are not always open at the same time, but your route must be designed to accommodate such circumstances. Below is a list of requirements for ensuring that you visit all stations.

*Stations closed for long-term constructions projects - currently includes Cortlandt Street (RW line) for Fulton St Transit Center construction and Cortlandt Street (1 train) for WTC redevelopment - these stations may be passed through without stopping.
* Part-time stations (currently 148 St and 145 St/Lenox on the 3 train; Times Square and Grand Central on the 42 St Shuttle; and Fulton St and Broad St on the J/M/Z line) - these stations must be visited during the hours when service is operating and stopping there.
* Seasonal stations (currently includes Aqueduct Racetrack on the A train) - these stations must be visited during the days and hours when service is operating and stopping there.
* Stations closed for temporary scheduled service diversions - these stations must be visited during hours when they are open; if they are closed in one direction, you must ride in the direction making all stops, even if it adds doubling-back.
* Trains may bypass stations to catch up to schedule - you must de-board and wait for the next train making all stops.
* Trains may bypass stations due to unplanned or emergency situations - these stations may be passed if you determine by listening to announcements or asking train crews or other officials that the change affects all trains (i.e., waiting for the next train will not allow you to stop at the station).
*Route segments may be closed due to an emergency - if the disruption is expected to be brief, you should wait until it clears; if it is extended, you may attempt to change your route so you can cover the disrupted segment later. [/quote]

So there are only a few days attempts can be made I assume- Race days only it seems. The media coverage also looked massive in the states for the last attempt. This would be a major feat in itself the NYC challenge.

Also reading through it seems that they never actually left the system if I gather that right which was a rule given by the "Amateur New York Subway Riding Committee" which seem to be a bit like our forum making rules for Alternative Challenge etc, they apparently did the attempt on a single fare.

Interestingly also Guinness don't seem to rest the old records when a system change occurs, the record was held for 17 years from 1989 to 2006 and various changes occured with stations opening and closing but Guinness still kept the same record category.

If we were ever to attempt this I think we'd need to discuss loads of things with these guys as even for expeirenced New Yorkers this seems tough
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Re: London + NYC Challenge

Post by Soup Dragon »

The main problem for NYC would look to be visiting Aqueduct Racetrack, just checking out the website for the racetrack it appears that there is always racing on a Saturday and wikipedia says the station is open 11am to 7pm on racedays. The more I think about this challenge the more I think it's actually do-able.
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