tubechallenge.com

Welcome to the 2018/19 Random 15 Championship. I am your host (commonly known to regulars as the BERC when I am hosting Random 15 challenges). The Random 15 challenge is just that, visit 15 randomly selected stations that feature on the Tube Map (usually within zones 1-2 and using the Underground network only). There will be certain rounds within the championship that are a variation of this such as adding an extra zone or network e.g. DLR onto the challenge. So are you ready to take on the Random 15 championship?

If anyone is not familiar with the standard rules (or scoring) for Random 15 challenges, they can be read here: http://www.explorerticket.co.uk/tubecha ... 5rules.htm (for regulars this is the same rules you are already well versed with).

Round 5 is now approaching, so here is what you need to know.

When: Saturday 27th April 2019, 12:30 (UK local time).
Pre challenge meet up: Green Park (meet up outside the step free ramped entrance that leads directly onto the park itself).
Post challenge meet up: NOW CONFIRMED as The Anchor Tap, Horsleydown Lane, Southwark, SE1 2LN (southern side of Tower Bridge circa 10 minute walk from London Bridge NR or Tower Hill LU). Buses 42, 47, 78, 343 and RV1 stop close by. Food is NOT served Saturday evenings but other eateries are close by.
Variant: As this is the weekend of the London Marathon, this is the perfect opportunity to roll out the Random 15 marathon twist (but in reverse)… So a fixed start at Green Park and a fixed finish at Greenwich (DLR) with 24 stations of LU or DLR stations in zones 1 and 2 to visit in between
Time limit: 6 hours.

NOTE: As this is a fixed start and fixed end, all challengers MUST depart Green Park by Tube and arrive at Greenwich (DLR) on a DLR train.

Engineering works affecting the challenge:
--Circle: Completely closed.
--District No service High Street Ken - Edgware Road (Circle).
--H&C: No service Hammersmith (H&C)- Moorgate.
--Metropolitan: No service Wembley Park- Aldgate.

Stations closed: All stations Hammersmith (H&C) round to Edgware Road (Circle), plus Bayswater, Great Portland Street, Euston Square, Farringdon, Barbican and Aldgate.

Therefore Paddington (Praed Street), Baker Street, King's Cross, Finchley Road and Notting Hill Gate can only be visited on the "deep level" lines at these stations.

Other engineering work:
--c2c: No trains to/from Fenchurch Street via West Ham. Diversions to/from Liverpool Street via Stratford.
--Overground (GOBLIN): Reduced timetable, every 30 minutes.

There may be other engineering work on the national network further afield that may impact your journey into London.

As usual, this is an open invitation event but notification of your attendance is welcome to gauge the number of envelopes required.

Tangy.
The BERC.

Attending: roblo97,
Parkrun:
Spoons: roblo97,

Attending: roblo97, GU
parkrun: Walthamstow; GU
Spoons: The Coronet, Holloway Road?? ;roblo97, GU


Tangy do you need me to book the pub and if so what time?

Sorry to announce that the pub chosen for our post challenge meet for this round, The Prince William Henry is CLOSED on this date due to work on their food lift, therefore we will need to revert back to our usual venue. That is The Bricklayers Arms, Gresse Street near TCR.

tangy wrote: ↑03 Apr 2019, 21:27 Sorry to announce that the pub chosen for our post challenge meet for this round, The Prince William Henry is CLOSED on this date due to work on their food lift, therefore we will need to revert back to our usual venue. That is The Bricklayers Arms, Gresse Street near TCR.

As we are finishing at Greenwich could I suggest The Anchor Tap, Tower Bridge?

Greenwich London Bridge then is approx. 10 mins walk

Yay finally getting to the R15 this season.


Edit: Just realised I made it to round 1

Attending: roblo97, GU, xcooler123
parkrun @ Walthamstow: GU, xcooler123
Spoons @ The Coronet, Holloway Road: roblo97, GU, xcooler123

As discussed with Tangy I have managed to book The Anchor Tap darts board and adjacent table for 18:30 - sorry to say they don't serve food on Saturday evening if you want to grab something on the way there - Whoever arrives first is booked in my name...
Also for food there is a spoons 3 mins away

Attending: roblo97, GU, xcooler123, alexmcmotor + Simon + Kat
parkrun @ Walthamstow: GU, xcooler123
Spoons @ The Coronet, Holloway Road: roblo97, GU, xcooler123

Excited as always

Attending: roblo97, GU, xcooler123, alexmcmotor + Simon + Kat, tractakid
parkrun @ Walthamstow: GU, xcooler123, tractakid
Spoons @ The Coronet, Holloway Road: roblo97, GU, xcooler123, tractakid

Attending: roblo97, GU, xcooler123, alexmcmotor + Simon + Kat, tractakid, RJSRdg
parkrun @ Walthamstow: GU, xcooler123, tractakid
Spoons @ The Coronet, Holloway Road: roblo97, GU, xcooler123, tractakid

Attending: roblo97, GU, xcooler123, alexmcmotor + Simon + Kat, tractakid, RJSRdg, Nozzacook, Matt Cook
parkrun @ Walthamstow: GU, xcooler123, tractakid, Nozzacook, Matt Cook
Spoons @ The Coronet, Holloway Road: roblo97, GU, xcooler123, tractakid, Nozzacook, Matt Cook.

Attending: roblo97, GU, xcooler123, alexmcmotor + Simon + Kat, tractakid, RJSRdg, Nozzacook, Matt Cook, DrainBrain
parkrun @ Walthamstow: GU, xcooler123, tractakid, Nozzacook, Matt Cook, DrainBrain
Spoons @ The Coronet, Holloway Road: roblo97, GU, xcooler123, tractakid, Nozzacook, Matt Cook, DrainBrain

Before passing through the barriers at Green Park, I scanned the first few stations on the list. By the time I'd done that everyone else had disappeared and it would be a long time before I saw anyone else! The first thing I noticed was that there were a number of stations up the Jubilee Line (this had cropped up in some of the 'practice' draws I'd done on the Generator), so I headed to the Jubilee platforms. Once on the train, I started to plot the remaining stations, and noticing Queensway was on the list, just had time to bail out at Bond Street. So over to Queensway on the Central, doubled back to Lancaster Gate and ran to Paddington, from where I caught the Bakerloo to Baker Street via Edgware Road (B). Up the Jubilee through Swiss Cottage, Finchley Road and West Hampstead to Willesden Green, then back down to Kilburn and two buses to Kilburn Park.

In doing so I made two errors which were to affect my final placing:

1) As I caught the bus I realised I was holding my Travelcard and my phone in the same hand, with the Travelcard against the magnetic catch on the phone pouch. Sure enough, as I arrived at Kilburn Park, I discovered that the Travelcard had demagnetised and would no longer work in the ticket barriers! I managed to attract the attention of the lady in the booth, but it took her a minute or so to walk over to the barriers and let me in. The demagnetisation of my ticket was to have a more significant impact later on.

2) I rushed down onto the platforms and jumped on a train that was in the platform. Only when it had set off did I realise it was a southbound train! Good cross-platform doubleback at Maida Vale but it may well have cost me a train.

Up through Queens Park to Willesden Junction where the next three trains were a Shepherds Bush terminator, a Clapham and a Richmond. I considered changing plans to catch the Clapham but as the Richmond was almost immediately behind it, I opted for that instead. However the three trains in total incurred a wait of around twelve minutes, and, looking at Real Time Trains it appears had I not gone the wrong way at Kilburn Park I might perhaps have been able to catch a previous Richmond and save myself 15 minutes.

Off the Overground at Gunnersbury with another good cross-platform connection to the District through Turnham Green and Stamford Brook. I briefly considered changing to the Picc at Hammersmith but as there wasn't one there and it would have made a more awkward change at Earl's Court, it would have negated the advantage of not having to stop at West Kensington. This turned out to be the correct decision as I was able to make another good cross-platform connection at Earl's Court to a train terminating at High Street Kensington.

A slight delay at HSK while the driver changed ends, then back south to West Brompton. A glance at the boards showed an 'Edgware Road' (actually another HSK terminator) in three minutes, an Upminster in five or a Clapham Junction Overground in seven. Owing to the ease of the change at Clapham, I opted for the latter.

On to a Dalston train (which departed a couple of minutes late for no apparent reason) round to Clapham High Street, run to Clapham North and down to Clapham Common. Back up to Elephant and Castle thence to Waterloo via Lambeth North.

David ran past me at Waterloo and I struggled to keep up with him (to give some idea of the difference in pace between us, he ran up the non-moving part of the Travelator section, I ran up the Travelator and still couldn't keep up) but we still caught the same eastbound Jubilee. I was feeling quite glad that David and I appeared (to my mind) to be at about the same point in the Challenge, until I doubled back at Southwark, and he stayed on, meaning he was four stations up on me!

Back to Waterloo, up the Northern via Tottenham Court Road and Warren Street to Belsize Park, where I had a four minute wait for a southbound train back to Camden Town, another four minute wait for a train to Tufnell Park, and a similar wait again for a train to Bank. At Bank I took the Central to Mile End followed by the District to Bow Road.

As I moved towards the door position at Bow Road, another figure with a rucksack moved in front of me. As he had a rucksack and was clearly trying to get the door position, I thought it was another Challenger and this was proved when he sprinted up the stairs ahead of me and I recognised him as new boy Ed. My demagnetised Travelcard failed to work the barriers and I was reduced to crawling through on my knees. By the time I left the station, Ed was disappearing under the next railway bridge and I never saw him again (I was halfway down the stairs at Bow Church when a southbound DLR departed, presumably with him on it - had it not been for the ticket issue I would probably have caught it).

Four minute wait (again!) for the next southbound DLR, in the meantime I was joined by Kev and A2 who advised me that as there were only 25 stations on the list including Greenwich, I should make a note of my time at Greenwich, carry on to Deptford Bridge, double back, and stop the watch when I got back to Greenwich, pending a decision from Tangy as to whether Greenwich should be visited twice. After a discussion as to whether we should change at Poplar or Canary Wharf (the boards at Poplar showed a two minute wait so we changed there), we visited Westferry, Cutty Sark and Greenwich (twice) together.

Shortly after we stepped off a northbound DLR at Greenwich, Peter and Nick alighted from a southbound one and advised us that Tangy had ruled that Greenwich only needed to be visited once.

So our final time was 4:51:33, good enough for joint 8th place, though had it not been for my demagnetisation issue I would have been joint 7th, possibly higher had I made the earlier Richmond train. We were nearly an hour off the winning time, however!

Thanks to Tangy for organising.