Christmas Park Challenge 2016 - Sat 17th December

Zone 1, Alphabet, All Lines - discuss them here

10th or 17th Dec?

Poll ended at 02 Oct 2016, 20:29

10th Dec
5
45%
17th Dec
6
55%
 
Total votes: 11

Elsie
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Re: Christmas Park Challenge 2016 - Sat 17th December

Post by Elsie »

I'm not 100% on the rules! I think it's a brilliant (and time saving) idea, I'd like to know his route to see how he fitted it in :)
Elsie
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greatkingrat
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Re: Christmas Park Challenge 2016 - Sat 17th December

Post by greatkingrat »

I assume he did Finsbury Park - Kings Cross / St Pancras - Stratford - Newbury Park?
Soon to be yet another forum train driver
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tractakid
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Re: Christmas Park Challenge 2016 - Sat 17th December

Post by tractakid »

Disappointed to break the previous record but come in third!

The day started with a very slippy parkrun at Wormwood Scrubs, where I stayed for refreshments afterwards. After leaving around 10:25, I got to East Acton and the train I needed to catch to Hanger Lane was the third one! This meant I got to Park Royal a healthy 12 minutes before the deadline and was able to catch the 10:55 out. Didn't expect to have to do that run however!

I had a very good day out. The worst connection was at H&I, where the Overground was a 7 minute wait. Everything else, I think, was 3 minutes or less. This still beat the Tottenham Hale option.

Trains in platform at Turnham Green, Wimbledon Park, Finchley Road. Right branches at Warren Street, Stratford. Instant bus at Westbourne Park. Everything else was 'just' a decent change.

Having seen nobody at the start, I was glad to bump into Kev & Nozza at St James's Park, James at Ladbroke Grove, and Richard & Elsie (though I had to guess who Elsie was at the time!). I spent Ladbroke Grove to Canons Park with James, bumping into Richard & Elsie who were continually one train behind us going up the Bakerloo. After our brief meeting at St James's Park, I spent Stratford to Elm Park with Nozza and Kev.

This was my route from Tufnell to Finsbury Park (Blue = on foot, red = bus) :(

Image

Had I been a little less conservative with the stopwatch at the start, and had I not messed up that run, my finishing position could well have been 1st. The stopwatch alone may have promoted me to second.

Route:
Image
Pink (train), Blue (foot), Green (bus).
*insert boasting about notable tube accomplishments here*
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Steeevooo
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Re: Christmas Park Challenge 2016 - Sat 17th December

Post by Steeevooo »

Well that was a day of terrible connections really - I don't recall my exact final time (I've since reset my stopwatch), but believe it was in the region of 07:58:xx.

My day didn't start off particularly well when I got to Rainham (my local station) to be greeted with a 20 min delay in my half-hourly train service. This then got worse upon getting to Mile End (I was going to Hanger Lane to walk down to Park Royal) to be greeted with the following sequence of Central Line trains:

- Ealing Broadway
- White City
- Ealing Broadway
- North Acton
- West Ruislip

As such it was nearly half past ten before I even arrived at the start. Having met with Andi, Kev and Nozza, we all started together amongst much hilarity - Kev, Nozza and myself went through the barriers and jogged to the Eastbound platform and heard Andi cursing in the background as his ticket wouldn't go through the barrier...so the natural thing for Nozza and I to do was to scream "Train coming in!!" very loudly... Andi then crawled underneath the barriers and sprinted full pelt....to find us on the platform sans train! Anyhow, the hallmark of the day was set with a 7 min wait at Acton Town for a District to Chiswick Park. Andi and I then ran to Turnham Green whilst Kev and Nozza opted for a bus. At Ravenscourt Park Andi decided to sprint off elsewhere whist I returned to the platforms and met Kev and Nozza again where we travelled together to Earl's Court. Just missing a Wimbledon wasn't ideal, nor was the fact that there was a 6 minute wait for the next one, who then proceeded to sit in the platform for a further couple of minutes whilst they "changed crew" (what crew?!!). Even more frustrating was the fact that we could have gone to Olympia since that was the first train in at Earl's Court.

Down to Wimbledon Park and the standard 3 or 4 minute wait there - advertised as an Edgware Road service - perfect!! The train rolls in, and it's actually a Tower Hill service. Balls. Kev and Nozza depart onwards whilst I change at Earl's Court, to get on a HSK train that has come from Olympia. As I very slowly pull into HSK bay platforms, a Circle Line pulls into the main platform which would have been perfect had either the District Line driver actually opened the doors when the train stopped (as opposed to waiting for 30 secs or so) or the Circle Line driver waited for people to make the connection. Alas not. Eventually to Notting Hill Gate and across to Holland Park, up the lift and run the horrible up-and-down run to Ladbroke Grove. 8 minute wait for a H&C. I'm spotting a trend for the day.

Eventually get the one stop to Westbourne Park where I meet Tangy and Hugo, as described above. Having every bus that we need changing its drivers was hardly ideal, but we did make it to Kilburn Park eventually, where we then got reasonable connections to Queen's Park, Stonebridge Park and Kenton. A nice short run to Northwick Park, where we are greeted with an Uxbridge service. No thank you, we want to go to the kraP room. Up to Moor Park (where Tangy, Hugo and I discussed a potential future alternative Parks Challenge), a standard 3 minute double back, out at Wembley Park for a photo and up to Canons Park where I let Hugo and Tangy head off to Edgware.

I head back into town, Met down to Finchley Road, cross-platform onto a waiting Jubilee to Baker Street and cross platform to the Bakerloo for a 4 minute wait to Regen'ts Park. Up the waiting lift, photo and back down the stairs to go to Oxford Circus, cross platform to Green Park and squeeeeeeeeze onto a Picc to Hyde Park Corner. Discover that they are funnelling everybody out of one exit at HPC meaning that crowd-surfing may have been a better option since having 100+ people all trying to get out of one exit doesn't result in a high rate of flow. Jump on the bus to Green Park for a photo and run down to St James's Park. I believe I saw 3 trains going Eastbound before one came in for me to go one stop to Victoria and thence Northbound on the Vic to Euston, cross platform change to the Northern, requiring an extra change at Camden Town before reaching Belsize Park.

Up the long lift to get a photo and then managing to get in the same lift down. Well, once the person trying to squeeze in finally gave in and realised that he wouldn't fit and therefore allowed the doors to actually shut on the lift. Down to Camden Town, up to Woodside Park and down to Tufnell Park. Out the station, get to the Bus Stop....will there be a 4 due any time soon? Of course not - 19 min wait for the next 4 to Waterloo, so I run off down Tufnell Park Road, knowing that there were a selection of buses due from Holloway Nags Head stop on Seven Sisters Road. Get there.... 9 min wait for the next bus to anywhere FFS! Continue running all the way to Finsbury Park and knowing that the H&I to SRA train are at xx:x2, I realise I'm going to get into H&I at something ending in a 1, therefore not leaving enough time to make it. I consult my notes however and realise that I'll have a 5 minute connection at King's Cross St. Pancras (International) for a High Speed 1 Javelin service to Stratford International. To hell with it - I bet no other challenger will be doing it! Even more fortuitous was that the barriers were open at each end, so instead of paying an exorbitant Oyster PAYG fare for the 6 minute journey, I managed to travel for free!

Now, who decided to arrange for a Park Challenge when West Ham were at home? I had planned to simply run through Westfields and use the easy entrance to Stratford station. No such luck - everyone was being diverted over the long bridge (carrying you over the entirety of Stratford station) and then back into the station on the Jubilee side of the station. Not just me, but hundreds of West Ham fans too. First Central Line train? Loughton. Damn. Second Central Line train? Epping. Double damn. Get on the third train to Newbury Park, back to Stratford for West Ham and thence Upton Park where finally I had a bit of luck as the train I was on sat at a red signal and I rejoined the same Upminster-bound train that I arrived on. Out to Elm and back to pub.

Possibly the challenge with the absolutely least amount of luck that I'll ever do, but hey ho - that is part of Tube Challenging!!
Elsie
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Re: Christmas Park Challenge 2016 - Sat 17th December

Post by Elsie »

Thanks chaps - I'm am loving reading these once ... then doing it all again with maps open so I can visualize your movements!

I would have never, ever thought of using the Javelin service, that is pure genius!
Elsie
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crypto
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Re: Christmas Park Challenge 2016 - Sat 17th December

Post by crypto »

It was an interesting day of mixed fortunes and performance for me, which leaves my mid-pack position of 5th about what I'd expect.

I got on the first train with about one minute on the stopwatch. Rather than my original plan of waiting on the platform until I could hear/see the train, then bolting it, I gave myself a few comfort seconds to grab the picture. I abandoned Hugo and Tangy at Chiswick Park to get a bus to Ravenscourt Park. Unfortunately, there were none, so I ended up on a bus to Stamford Brook and running the remainder.

I had two routes planned, and decided which one to take based on the train out of Wimbledon Park. I opted for the zone 1 start (which, given Winter Wonderland would be filling up, was probably the wise choice for the morning). Long change at Earl's Court for a Picc line to Hyde Park Corner, then got a bus down to Green Park, ready to run to St James's Park. Smooth sailing from there to Regent's Park, but then came a cropper when I forgot that the obviously correct thing to do was reverse to find the central line at Oxford Circus. Instead, I ended up going to Great Portland Street and getting on a Hammersmith train. Quickly realising that that was a terrible idea, I bailed at Baker Street to get the Central Line at Bond Street.

Holland Park done, I ran over to Ladbroke Grove to find Andrew on the train to Westbourne Park. We got lucky with the correct bus pulling up just as we left the station, taking us slowly towards Kilburn Park. Smooth sailing for a while, with some not-too-shabby changes up the Bakerloo and over to Moor Park. Andrew tried to confuse me by getting the Uxbridge train to buy lunch at Harrow-on-the-Hill while I went for a toilet break at Northwick Park.

Wembley Park and Canons Park went swimmingly, and so began the run to Edgware. No buses in sight, so I decided to risk it, though it was a little further than I remembered from last time I took the bus. As it turned out, running took very slightly longer than the bus (a few minutes behind my start) would have taken, but what's a minute in a 7 hour challenge? Belsize Park was a smooth picture, getting in the lift, taking the picture and getting back in the same lift to grab the next departing train. Tufnell Park was similarly fine, and the lovely driver of the reverse Woodside Park train held the doors just long enough to jump through the closing doors.

The Victoria Line train at Euston tried to throw a spanner in the works by being taken out of service. A few minutes of faff later, I'd managed to squeeze into a very packed Victoria line out of KXSP to Finsbury Park, before reversing and dealing with the laborious Stratford Overground line (I had a quick peek at the Northern City line platform, and the next train was, of course, cancelled).

Aside from very packed Stratford/West Ham stations, the rest of the journey was incident free. I bolted up the Elm Park ramp for a final time of 7:39:38 for fifth place.



Summary of my route:

Park Royal (1) -> Acton Town -> Chiswick Park (2) -> bus to Stamford Brook and run to Ravenscourt Park (3) -> Earl's Court -> Wimbledon Park (4) -> Earl's Court -> Hyde Park Corner (5) -> Bus/run to St James's Park (7) via Green Park (6) -> Victoria -> Oxford Circus (via Green Park) -> Regent's Park (8) -> run to Great Portland street -> Baker Street -> Bond Street -> Holland Park (9) -> run to Ladbroke Grove -> Westbourne Park (10) -> Bus to Kilburn Park (11) -> Queens Park (12) -> Stonebridge Park (13) -> Kenton -> run to Northwick Park (14) -> Moor Park (15) -> Wembley Park (16) -> Canons Park (17) -> run to Edgware -> Belsize Park (18) -> Camden Town -> Tufnell Park (19) -> Woodside Park (20) -> Euston -> KXSP -> Finsbury Park (21) -> Highbury and Islington -> Stratford -> Newbury Park (22) -> Straford -> West Ham -> Upton Park (23) -> Elm Park (24)
Elsie
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Re: Christmas Park Challenge 2016 - Sat 17th December

Post by Elsie »

I normally have Google Location History disabled - but for the 17th I had it turned on ... That's a lot of miles we all did!

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