Thinking out loud

Discuss the full Tube Challenge here
Post Reply
ANDY_JS
Zone 2
Posts: 82
Joined: 19 Feb 2019, 19:55

Re: Thinking out loud

Post by ANDY_JS »

{Sorry to go off topic because I know we should be discussing tube routes and nothing else on here}

Has anyone else been a fan of the Tube for ages but only discovered the Tube Challenge recently? I feel like the world's most stupid person because I've been interested in the London underground since the 1980s when I was at primary school and somehow I didn't find out about the Tube Challenge until the start of last year, Jan 2019. I could have been attempting it for 20 years at least. It makes you wonder what else there is you don't know about which you'd be interested in if you did. :D
RJSRdg
All Zones
Posts: 1227
Joined: 16 Mar 2015, 00:35

Re: Thinking out loud

Post by RJSRdg »

I was aware of the Tube Challenge for some time and always had an ambition to attempt it, but it wasn't until a few years ago that I realised I wasn't getting any younger and if I was going to try it I'd better get on with it. So I started doing some research, came across the Forum and got into doing the Alternative Challenges. I still haven't got round to having a serious attempt at a FNC...
272 stations in 18:30:32
The only person to have used a boat in a Random 15 Challenge!
User avatar
Lunaticonthegrass
Zone 4
Posts: 247
Joined: 18 Nov 2019, 22:47
Location: North of Watford

Re: Thinking out loud

Post by Lunaticonthegrass »

I discovered a map of the Underground when I was about 7 or 8, so have been fascinated with the tube ever since then. I found out about the World Record challenge (i.e. the FNC) when I was about 16. Yet it wasn't until I was 27 that I mentioned the World Record idea to my girlfriend, and it turned out that she already knew about it and we decided that we should give the full challenge a go.

For various reasons, it was then another 2 years before we did our first FNC. I thought that would then be it, except maybe a solo run by myself to see if I could get a better time. But my girlfriend then discovered explorerticket.co.uk and this forum, and I became hooked. That was about a year ago.

Due to COVID-19, I've done very little in the way of challenging since joining, and I do slightly feel that I've missed a lot. (Especially since I lived in Chesham for a short period - maybe the perfect place for a challenger to live!) But if I had started years ago there's much else I would have missed out elsewhere in my life. Life's too short to do everything.
Full Network (270 stations) - 18:22:43
Parks - 7:57:23
Alphabet - 5:30:40
Roads, Streets and Lanes - 3:51:51
Zone 1 - 3:03:50 (Former record)
Bottle - 1:57:43
1 pint in 18 seconds
User avatar
Steeevooo
All Zones
Posts: 1148
Joined: 14 Jul 2005, 12:23
Location: Rainham, Essex

Re: Thinking out loud

Post by Steeevooo »

Lunaticonthegrass wrote: 10 Nov 2020, 20:11 Especially since I lived in Chesham for a short period - maybe the perfect place for a challenger to live!
You certainly wouldn't be the first tube challenger to have lived in Chesham - Ollie L beat you to that by quite a long time!!
ANDY_JS
Zone 2
Posts: 82
Joined: 19 Feb 2019, 19:55

Re: Thinking out loud

Post by ANDY_JS »

Question for the experts: if a train is scheduled to arrive and leave at Epping at the same time, does this mean it might be the same train that's involved — [ie. you could just stay on the train and wait for it to leave], or is it more likely to be two different trains? And if it is two different trains, would there be any possibility of transferring in time between them, or would you have to cross a bridge that would make it difficult? Thanks in advance. I don't live in the area so it's difficult to check out at the moment.
User avatar
al
Zone 6
Posts: 774
Joined: 20 May 2007, 09:34
Location: Staffs

Re: Thinking out loud

Post by al »

If you're using the working timetable you should be able to work the first bit out yourself, whilst Google maps satellite view will help with the other question ...
Held some Alternative Challenge records for a long time.
Doesn't any more.
trains 500
Zone 4
Posts: 268
Joined: 23 Jun 2020, 19:52

Re: Thinking out loud

Post by trains 500 »

it depends on the arrival platform hinthint
Lner station assist (dispatcher)

YT: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... x7lo4OqFpy
Quizzes for Tube Nerds
RJSRdg
All Zones
Posts: 1227
Joined: 16 Mar 2015, 00:35

Re: Thinking out loud

Post by RJSRdg »

Another hint - when a train terminates, the passengers have to get off, other passengers get on, and the driver has to walk from one end of the train to the other.
272 stations in 18:30:32
The only person to have used a boat in a Random 15 Challenge!
User avatar
Steeevooo
All Zones
Posts: 1148
Joined: 14 Jul 2005, 12:23
Location: Rainham, Essex

Re: Thinking out loud

Post by Steeevooo »

RJSRdg wrote: 13 Nov 2020, 00:47 and the driver has to walk from one end of the train to the other.
Not necessarily true if the drivers are stepping back.
User avatar
EastActionWoman
Zone 4
Posts: 262
Joined: 19 May 2019, 10:02

Re: Thinking out loud

Post by EastActionWoman »

I thought I'd found a great way to do the DLR challenge. From the TfL journey planner it looked like trains arrived and left from Tower Gateway at the same time, so thought I could just get off one train and hop onto the next one. Then I did a recce and realised there was only one platform, so departing train must go out first before arriving train can come in. Back to the drawing board :lol:
Not a plus one :wink:
Roads, Streets and Lanes (2020-08-28) 3:46:16
Prague metro (2020-02-18) 2:27:56
All the Actons (2021-11-20) 0:42:34
User avatar
al
Zone 6
Posts: 774
Joined: 20 May 2007, 09:34
Location: Staffs

Re: Thinking out loud

Post by al »

Yup, Tower Gateway always sucks for this reason!
Held some Alternative Challenge records for a long time.
Doesn't any more.
ANDY_JS
Zone 2
Posts: 82
Joined: 19 Feb 2019, 19:55

Re: Thinking out loud

Post by ANDY_JS »

In order to have any chance whatsoever of doing the Tube Challenge in a fairly good time, it's essential that you're able to run around the stations, platforms, up the stairs, spiral staircases, escalators, etc. I'm just a little concerned at the moment that the current crisis may be used as an excuse to bring in a strict no running policy, as part of the current obsession with making everything "100% safe", even after the Covid-19 crisis is over. I very much hope that doesn't happen because, as I said, it would make it pretty much impossible to do the challenge in a good time. But bureaucrats love using crises like the current one as a reason to bring in permanent changes to restrict things that people were previously able to do without being bothered by anyone. You already see a lot of "Don't Run" notices in a lot of stations, and I was shouted at once very loudly by someone at a station for running for about 5 seconds to catch a train.
User avatar
Steeevooo
All Zones
Posts: 1148
Joined: 14 Jul 2005, 12:23
Location: Rainham, Essex

Re: Thinking out loud

Post by Steeevooo »

I would love to see anybody trying to enforce a "No running" policy in any station. People run late (no pun intended). People run to catch trains and make connections. People generally are in a rush. Hence people will run. Having a "No running" rule is entirely unenforceable.
jrparkin
Zone 3
Posts: 163
Joined: 06 Oct 2020, 09:56

Re: Thinking out loud

Post by jrparkin »

Another issue is bus routes might change - when it is safe for us to do it - meaning my carefully laid out plans might hit the bin before my acclimatisation practice
Former record holder; Repton 3 Oceans high score 36916
Sheffield Supertram: 3:17:29
London Underground (243 stations): 18:06:49
Vienna U Bahn (FNC): 5:04:47
Golf
Zone 4
Posts: 284
Joined: 08 Nov 2020, 19:18

Re: Thinking out loud

Post by Golf »

jrparkin wrote: 04 Jan 2021, 13:01 Another issue is bus routes might change - when it is safe for us to do it - meaning my carefully laid out plans might hit the bin before my acclimatisation practice
you make it sound like an ascent to mount everest :lol: No running :lol: when is this government going to stop their obsession with running peoples lives NEVER :lol:
5 time london underground record holder
1 time new york record holder
1 time berlin record holder (not ratified by guinness)
1 time paris record holder
zone 1 winner 2009,2012,2023
random 15 championship winner twice
tube olympic winner once
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 13 guests