Mini Tube Challenge Day - Friday Sep 1st

[Going Underground]

If a lot of people take part in this then there will be some long waiting times at either Harrow or Epping while everyone else starts/finishes. Maybe it would be more fun to have a mass start and see if anybody can get ahead of the pack by being quicker at the interchanges.

I will probably come along for the zone 1 part in the evening but I don't particularly see much of a point in this snake challenge at the moment.

The other scenario is that instead of waiting at Harrow & W after completion of the 129 you could head straight to Barbican and start Z1...
Then we can all meet up after both events are completed to compare times for both events and the Z1 routes...

We don't all have to start the Z1 at exactly the same time, but we need some idea of approx when we think the first 129 Challenger will get to Barbican so those just doing the Z1 have at least some idea of when to start...

At the moment the earliest start time claimed is 1116 hrs and I reckon we are looking at about 6 hours
Then you have to get from Harrow & W to Barbican so I would estimate that the Z1 is gonna kick off around 1830hrs....

Anyone just doing the Z1 could also PM me there mobile number, or I can give you mine and then I can let you know how it is looking on the day for approx Z1 start time

[Starkey7]

With a view to getting a sub-3-hour time for the Zone 1 thingy, would it not make more sense to do the Zone 1 challenge first? (That would mean, say, an 11am start at Barbican.) And then start the Snake at about 3:36pm from Epping. Otherwise, starting the Zone 1 thing in the evening would suffer from fewer trains being around, so longer waits...

[Going Underground]

With a view to getting a sub-3-hour time for the Zone 1 thingy, would it not make more sense to do the Zone 1 challenge first? (That would mean, say, an 11am start at Barbican.) And then start the Snake at about 3:36pm from Epping. Otherwise, starting the Zone 1 thing in the evening would suffer from fewer trains being around, so longer waits...

I would rather do the 129 first to be honest, as I am normally knackered after a Z1... I don't mind the Z1 in the evening, remember the 2 x bottles we did in the eve..they were ok and less people around to get in the way as well

[Root]

Could always start at H&W - we wouldn't have to have a mass start, and then it'd all be down to luck (or planning, if you're boring) about whether you could get a good finish or not.

[jonny]

Just a question -- can you get the silverlink metro services between queen's park and harrow?

[Going Underground]

Could always start at H&W - we wouldn't have to have a mass start, and then it'd all be down to luck (or planning, if you're boring) about whether you could get a good finish or not.

I did think of this but problem is Epping is a bit of a long trek back to Barbican or any Z1 start for that matter. Off course the 129 is a dual challenge as times can bet set both ways..

Actually edit post, you might have something here Ollie... I thought that getting from H & W to Barbican would be much quicker than from Epping...but looking JPL there is nothing in it

So how about this for a change of plan then....

Lets meet at H & W at 1100hrs aiming to get the first team away by 1115 hrs latest....

Each team challenger is drawn a number from 1 to whatever and to make it more fun and also a bit of luck element (we don't want to be boring ) you have to depart on the very next train in, no planning but off course you can make or lose time at the Interchanges....

i.e. Ollie is drawn 1 and therefore must depart on 1118, Starkey is drawn 2 and must depart on 1123 and so on....

I like this idea as H & W will probably be easier to get to for most us than Epping (certainly true for Ollie, John Stark and myself)

So without starting a poll I vote YES for H & W meet at 1100hrs....

Oh just one other question is there anywhere to meet up quickly and grab some refreshment at Epping?

[editorsfoot]

Oh just one other question is there anywhere to meet up quickly and grab some refreshment at Epping?

I have never been at Epping long enough to enoy the sights, but there is a Sainsbury's next to Loughton station

[Starkey7]

I'd disagree with you there, Kevin. You're forgetting the Silverlink County service, which gets you from Harrow and Wealdstone to Euston in twelve minutes flat. Then add on a six minute journey from Euston Square (after a pleasant stroll along Euston Road) and you're at Barbican.
These fast services come at least every half an hour, giving an expected wait of fifteen minutes.

Nevertheless, I don't really mind starting at Harrow if everybody else wants to!

Jonny, you certainly can use Silverlink Metro services, because that's consistent with the Guinness World Record rules, which state that you can use National Rail between stations, as long as they run on the same tracks as the Tube. The idea of all these challenges is to make the rules be a subset of the rules of the full challenge, as HÃ¥kan rightly says.

Hmm. I wonder why are my posts always so long?

[nozzacook]

I up for either start but can we make a decision soon to give us max time for planning. On a secondary point H & W start makes for more interesting times as it becomes pot luck on the Hainault to woodford section rather than it being a planned connection.

Anyway looking forward to seeing there

[hwolge]

Jonny, you certainly can use Silverlink Metro services, because that's consistent with the Guinness World Record rules, which state that you can use National Rail between stations, as long as they run on the same tracks as the Tube.

...and stop at every station to be visited.

[Going Underground]

I'd disagree with you there, Kevin. You're forgetting the Silverlink County service, which gets you from Harrow and Wealdstone to Euston in twelve minutes flat. Then add on a six minute journey from Euston Square (after a pleasant stroll along Euston Road) and you're at Barbican.
These fast services come at least every half an hour, giving an expected wait of fifteen minutes.

Nevertheless, I don't really mind starting at Harrow if everybody else wants to!

Oh yes good point John, overall though even alllowing for Journey time for return to Barbican I still think the H & W start will ensure that we can start the Z1 sooner...

Most of us can probably get to H & W for 11am where as with the Epping start the first person was only departing at 1116 through to at least 1216hrs. We should all be off and running by 1130 hrs from H & W...

One other thing how best do I get from Hatton Cross to H & W rather than taking tube all the way ??

[hwolge]

If and when Heathrow T4 reopens (Sep 1st?), there will be lots of variations to achieve 129 stations... All of them start (or end) in Epping. If there is any interest I can reveal all of them here...

[Going Underground]

If and when Heathrow T4 reopens (Sep 1st?), there will be lots of variations to achieve 129 stations... All of them start (or end) in Epping. If there is any interest I can reveal all of them here...

If you can reveal them on the initial desktop challenge thread that would be good....

Especially as Hatton Cross is my nearest station

[TheFatBuoy]

One other thing how best do I get from Hatton Cross to H & W rather than taking tube all the way ??

Either tube to Hammersmith, a quick dash for one of many buses to Kensington Olympia, then direct train to H+W, or train from Olympia to Willesden Junction + train/tube (whichever turns up first) to H+W (direct trains are only hourly, it seems - 12 past t'hour, arriving at 29 past).

Or a bus to Feltham, then it's 3 stops to Clapham Junction (on the 'fast' trains from Reading, anyway), then either a direct train to H+W or two trains/train+Bakerloo to H+W via Willesden Junction.

Or a bus to Feltham, then change at Richmond, train to WJ, then train/tube to H+W.

Or tube from Hatton Cross to Acton Town, walk to South Acton (0.6 miles, which I personally consider to be a 12 minute walk), then to WJ and onto H+W from there.

"David, it's over to you."

[Starkey7]

Okay, I'm up for a Harrow and Wealdstone start; it does offer better staggering, after all.

I'm liking Fat Buoy's excellent list of the thousands of routes for you to take, Going Underground. Now all you have to do is to use Journey Planner to work out the best one. (And I bet they're almost all the same. Mwahahaha.)

HÃ¥kan, I'm intrigued to see that, though there are many 129 routes, there's not a single 130 route. I find this quite surprising, though of course I don't doubt your super-douper, all-sing all-dancing programme that works it out!