Le Random 24

[Rhys1995]

Hey guys!

Been very quiet over the last month due to starting work with Greater Anglia (which I am absolutely loving) and hopefully from the 25th of June I'll be able to start planning things again as I get put on the roster at last.. So basically what I was thinking was some time in July (probably) was doing a 'Random 24'. Sounds pretty self-explanatory however there are a few twists that make this one special. Similar to Le Mans, hence the name Le Random 24, throughout the challenge each challenger has to make two 'pit stops', a pit stop can only take place at one of the stations to be visited, and it means fully leaving the station for 5 minutes. The time begins once you've stepped foot out of the station. To avoid people taking their pit stops on stations 2 and 3 (or as I call them laps 2 and 3), the first pit stop can only take place between laps 4 and 11, and the second pit stop has to take place between laps 12 and 20. There must be a minimum of SEVEN stations visited between the pit stops. I like the whole idea of strategy when you choose to take your pit stops hence the potential beauty of this challenge. If I get enough interest on this then I'll post some dates from the 25th of June onwards

[jamesthegill]

Question - I assume that the "pit stop" is five minutes outside of a station. What if your pit stop just so happens to coincide with a run between West Kensington and Kensington Olympia? You'll be outside a station for 5 minutes, but would you have to stay around West Ken for five minutes before beginning your run?

[The Orange One]

Do you have to buy some food? Because if so, I think I know some places (like Bayswater, Angel, Finchley Road and Camden Town)...

[Rhys1995]

So me and TOR did this a couple of days ago, was a great laugh despite not finishing due to the Triangle of (not much) power, Earl's Court. Sigh. Will be looking at doing this some time in the near future. Keep your eyes posted

[The Orange One]

Yep, we got (in the order we planned to do them in - we added Z3 and LO and DLR, perhaps not something we'll do next time):

St Paul's (starting station)
Liverpool Street
Leyton
Stratford High Street
Plaistow
Pontoon Dock
Greenwich
Forest Hill
Peckham Rye
Tower Gateway
Mansion House
Victoria
Pimlico
Putney Bridge
Holland Park
Edgware Road (SSL)
Baker Street
St. John's Wood
Dollis Hill
Brent Cross
East FInchley
Tottenham Hale
King's Cross St. Pancras
Russell Square

Route:
St Paul's Leyton Stratford West Ham (on DLR) Plaistow (first pit stop) West Ham Canning Town (on Jubilee) Woolwich Arsenal Greenwich Deptford Bridge New Cross (on the 53 bus) New Cross Gate (run because that's faster) Crystal Palace (Southern) Queens Road Peckham (another Southern!) Shadwell Tower Gateway Tower Hill (run) Victoria Vauxhall Putney (SWT) East Putney Notting Hill Gate Holland Park Notting Hill Gate Edgware Road (SSL) Baker Street Dollis Hill (second pit stop) Brent Cross (226 bus, or something else from Neasden Underpass) Camden Town East Finchley Archway Upper Holloway (run) Blackhorse Road King's Cross St Pancras Russell Square

Details:
Everything was fine up to Canning Town. 9 minute wait for the Woolwich Arsenal, and couldn't turn that into a Pontoon Dock doubleback with the 474 bus because there wasn't one. 10 minute wait at Woolwich Arsenal for the Southeastern (Rhys bought a drink which turned out to be tasteless at the café). Sexy change at Greenwich (it's hard to reach the southbound platform!), and also pretty good for the 53 at Deptford Bridge. New Cross Gate was a mess - the platform 1 staircase has been demolished, forcing us to run the length of platform 3 and then take the footbridge. When we reached platform 1, the Crystal Palace train decided that was when it was going to leave. 5 minutes for a Southern towards a Forest Hill doubleback, and with a Realtime Trains check we changed Forest Hill to Crystal Palace for a 7 minutes for the London Bridge via Queens Road Peckham train (same rails made Peckham Rye valid). Change at QRP, up to Shadwell, 3 minutes for a Tower Gateway. District all the way to Victoria, Victoria down to Vauxhall, SWT to Putney in around a minute. Run to East Putney, jump on a City bound District.

We didn't know it was 8 minutes to the next Wimbleware (or we would have pit stopped at Putney Bridge) until we reached Fulham Broadway. A Southern train at West Brompton southbound stopped us from seeing the northbound WLL platform next trains display, but Rhys thought the signal meant one had just left. We decided to risk a Circle at Gloucester Road - nope! We waited 3 minutes in the Triangle of Powerlessness for the S Stock to head north. District on the westbound platform for us to get back to ECT for the Wimbleware, but another 4 minute wait in the Triangle of Powerlessness meant we saw the S Stock passing us by northbound.

Aborted at ECT. I blame the S Stocks.