Going Underground wrote: ↑16 Dec 2018, 19:30
There will be no rules change sorry, the external photo is what makes this challenge so unique and cant really be altered after so many years...
I appreciate that this challenge has been running for several years and the format is set but....
it takes about 8 hours and I reckon 90 mins of that is spent getting off trains, running up escalators, waiting for lifts and then heading back down to catch the same line in the same direction, but one or two trains later. For me the unique thing about the Parks Challenge, is that much of the route is outside Zones 1 and 2, so you visit/change at different stations/areas. I estimate that a Parks Challenge with roundel (instead of external) photos would take 6.5 hours but would retain its uniqueness.
Here are the Parks stations with the usual arrival/departure mode at each station:
Belsize Park, up and down in the lift, which can take 5 mins
Canons Park, arrive by bus and leave by train or vice versa
Chiswick Park, arrive by train and run to Turnham Green
Elm Park, arrive and depart by train, often finish point
Finsbury Park, arrive by bus and leave by train or vice versa
Green Park, arrive on foot and leave by train or vice versa
Holland Park, arrive on foot and leave by train or vice versa
Hyde Park Corner, arrive by train and leave on foot or vice versa
Kilburn Park, arrive by train and leave on foot or vice versa
Moor Park, arrive and depart by train, often finish point
Newbury Park, arrive and depart by train, often finish point
Northwick Park, arrive by train and leave on foot or vice versa
Park Royal, arrive on foot and leave by train or vice versa
Queens Park, arrive and depart by train
Ravenscourt Park, arrive and depart by train
Regents Park, up and down in the lift, which can take 5 mins
St James Park, arrive and depart by train
Stonebridge Park, arrive and depart by train
Tufnell Park, up and down in the lift, which can take 5 mins
Upton Park, arrive and depart by train
Wembley Park, arrive and depart by train
Westbourne Park, arrive by bus and leave by train or vice versa
Wimbledon Park, arrive and depart by train
Woodside Park, arrive and depart by train
There are 3 stations where you go up and down in the lift. Or you might continue your journey by bus or on foot.
There are 11 stations where you arrive and depart by train, 7 changing but 4 same direction.
And 10 where you change mode between bus, foot and train. 3 of those might change by staying on the train (Chiswick Park, Green Park, Hyde Park Corner).
My conclusion is that by taking roundel (rather than external) photos, the route would remain much the same but you could reduce connections (in bold) by up to 10 and hence length by 90 mins. Considering the number of complaints about challenge length and Winter Wonderland, both of these would be solved by my suggested shorter Parks Challenge.
What do others think?
London 16h:14m:10s Paris 13:23:33 Z1 02:57:53 Metrolink 05:53:25 Lands End to John O'Groats by bus 3d:8h:17m All the Stations 35d:10h:10m