Ivo
Established Member
Something that I was initially going to do in September of last year (with a certain Administrator of a certain Internet forum), and now something I am somewhat ambitiously hoping to undertake on an 8-in-15 basis starting this coming Saturday, the 19th. I will be generally alternating the days I travel on, i.e. one on, one off, but with a couple of exceptions (for example Tuesday 29th may not be possible). And the whole thing will hopefully culminate in victory in the NWM Challenge, for which travel will be free as far as Cheltenham/Worcester!
Anyway, a few things I would like to add and ask. Before I start the questions though, three quick points:
(1) If anyone is wondering whether 8-in-15 is really worthwhile on a geographical basis, consider this: With a Railcard, it is only £16.50 more than a 3-in-7. I'm sure that I'm not the only one on here who wouldn't mind five days' almost-unlimited travel across an area of several thousand square miles for just £3.30 per day!
(2) If anyone is wondering how I can manage it around Uni, think back to February when I was constantly complaining about depression. It has improved, but not enough for me to be reasonably expected to attend every day. The welfare lady, who knows all-too-well that travelling is one of the best ways for me personally to become more cheerful has even suggested that I embark on an adventure!
(3) This will get me off my Nintendo DS for a while, I suppose!
Question Time then...
i. For the attention of those who have undertaken FoSWs before now: What was the experience like, and how did you plan each day? Did you only do a set amount each day, or did you go by area?
ii. Also for the attention of FoSW veterans: Are there any B&Bs in Cornwall that you feel may be worth a shout (so that I don't need to trudge down there several times just to fill in one final branch...)?
iii. If something goes horribly wrong, such as a fire at Plymouth grounding all traffic west of Newton Abbot to a halt, what compensation procedures are there? In my opinion £62.70 is excellent anyway, but knowing this might be useful; after all, less than £62.70 would thereotically be better-than-excellent!
iv. Should I worry about not being able to cover Okehampton, or are the Steam Railway running anything at the moment? I know I will have to pay, but I haven't travelled by steam since 2006. On the other hand, an Exeter to Okehampton return is only £3.30, which could be done during the summer (that is equivalent to each extra day compared to the 3-in-7 though!).
v. Are any guards likely to give me a hard time if I attempt to use the time-related easements on selected routes, such as the 0827 from Swindon to Penzance (0857 at Bath Spa)?
vi. Is there a better option for traversing the North Cotswold Line than a £10.10 CDR? A CDR would be adequate, because I'm not exactly going to get to Worcester before then if its restrictions are roughly identical to those of the FoSW...
vii. The seventh day will be my birthday, so I want to go for something special. Any suggestions? (Please do not say any of "The Valleys", "Severn Beach", "Exmouth", "Paignton", "Barnstaple" or "Newquay", or anything associated with any of those; five of those involve Pacers which I would like to avoid on the 31st as a minor treat, whilst the other is to a seaside resort which I am not particularly fond of.)
viii. Would people get bored if I provided a daily "blog", along the lines of my Great Escape and West Wales examples, or would eight such articles be reasonable? If practical, I will be writing live, as with the Great Escape article - albeit to a lesser degree, and not to the same length either.
ix. If I fail to cover every inch of line in the area (barring Okehampton), would it be considered a failure? Bear in mind that I have never been on a train beyond Newton Abbot, apart from a return from Liskeard to St Ives when I was on holiday aged 17.
x. Are there any major engineering works during the latter half of this month, besides the continued weekend closures around Tiverton Parkway? I have checked on National Rail Enquiries, but there does not seem to be anything that can be easily avoided through careful planning.
xi. Would 4,000 miles be a reasonable target?
xii. Can the FoSW be used on the Night Riviera, or is local travel forbidden (as with Reading to/from Paddington)?
xiii. Is there anything in particular I should watch out for? In particular, am I likely to claim any loco or XC HST mileage?
xiv. Is it worth attempting to travel to the Scilly Isles? The cheapest I have found is £35 - and then it would involve a miraculous 11:30 arrival on St Mary's. On the other hand, is it worth *not* attempting to travel to the Isle of Wight; should I be looking at travelling from both Portsmouth and Lymington, or just one of the two? And presumably Southampton would not be worth the trouble, given it would be easier to cover Cowes by bus (bus 1 to Cowes; bus 4 from East Cowes)?
If there is anything else people would like to add, please do. Every little helps (as a certain damned supermarket would claim). Also, be aware that I am looking at starting rather slowly (in terms of FoSW mileage), as I am going to attempt to cover the Valley network on the first day; after that, I will probably be trudging up-and-down the Severn Beach Line.
Much obliged, and I hope to see some of you on the way perhaps! I will need to run this past the Uni first though, because I'm not sure what they will make of me spending upwards of £60 on travelling when I'm looking at not having enough money to get to the end of April and thus "milking" off of them... (They'll probably just say the same as always: "You can't put a price on wellbeing." Especially at an effective cost of less than £8 a day.)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Notice (craftily added as a new post to bring this thread back to the front line): It would appear that the Uni have, as expected, given their backing to the scheme. After all, this costs less than two day bus tickets in Bath, so to be able to cover Malvern to Penzance on eight different days is quite something!
Anyway, a few things I would like to add and ask. Before I start the questions though, three quick points:
(1) If anyone is wondering whether 8-in-15 is really worthwhile on a geographical basis, consider this: With a Railcard, it is only £16.50 more than a 3-in-7. I'm sure that I'm not the only one on here who wouldn't mind five days' almost-unlimited travel across an area of several thousand square miles for just £3.30 per day!
(2) If anyone is wondering how I can manage it around Uni, think back to February when I was constantly complaining about depression. It has improved, but not enough for me to be reasonably expected to attend every day. The welfare lady, who knows all-too-well that travelling is one of the best ways for me personally to become more cheerful has even suggested that I embark on an adventure!
(3) This will get me off my Nintendo DS for a while, I suppose!
Question Time then...
i. For the attention of those who have undertaken FoSWs before now: What was the experience like, and how did you plan each day? Did you only do a set amount each day, or did you go by area?
ii. Also for the attention of FoSW veterans: Are there any B&Bs in Cornwall that you feel may be worth a shout (so that I don't need to trudge down there several times just to fill in one final branch...)?
iii. If something goes horribly wrong, such as a fire at Plymouth grounding all traffic west of Newton Abbot to a halt, what compensation procedures are there? In my opinion £62.70 is excellent anyway, but knowing this might be useful; after all, less than £62.70 would thereotically be better-than-excellent!
iv. Should I worry about not being able to cover Okehampton, or are the Steam Railway running anything at the moment? I know I will have to pay, but I haven't travelled by steam since 2006. On the other hand, an Exeter to Okehampton return is only £3.30, which could be done during the summer (that is equivalent to each extra day compared to the 3-in-7 though!).
v. Are any guards likely to give me a hard time if I attempt to use the time-related easements on selected routes, such as the 0827 from Swindon to Penzance (0857 at Bath Spa)?
vi. Is there a better option for traversing the North Cotswold Line than a £10.10 CDR? A CDR would be adequate, because I'm not exactly going to get to Worcester before then if its restrictions are roughly identical to those of the FoSW...
vii. The seventh day will be my birthday, so I want to go for something special. Any suggestions? (Please do not say any of "The Valleys", "Severn Beach", "Exmouth", "Paignton", "Barnstaple" or "Newquay", or anything associated with any of those; five of those involve Pacers which I would like to avoid on the 31st as a minor treat, whilst the other is to a seaside resort which I am not particularly fond of.)
viii. Would people get bored if I provided a daily "blog", along the lines of my Great Escape and West Wales examples, or would eight such articles be reasonable? If practical, I will be writing live, as with the Great Escape article - albeit to a lesser degree, and not to the same length either.
ix. If I fail to cover every inch of line in the area (barring Okehampton), would it be considered a failure? Bear in mind that I have never been on a train beyond Newton Abbot, apart from a return from Liskeard to St Ives when I was on holiday aged 17.
x. Are there any major engineering works during the latter half of this month, besides the continued weekend closures around Tiverton Parkway? I have checked on National Rail Enquiries, but there does not seem to be anything that can be easily avoided through careful planning.
xi. Would 4,000 miles be a reasonable target?
xii. Can the FoSW be used on the Night Riviera, or is local travel forbidden (as with Reading to/from Paddington)?
xiii. Is there anything in particular I should watch out for? In particular, am I likely to claim any loco or XC HST mileage?
xiv. Is it worth attempting to travel to the Scilly Isles? The cheapest I have found is £35 - and then it would involve a miraculous 11:30 arrival on St Mary's. On the other hand, is it worth *not* attempting to travel to the Isle of Wight; should I be looking at travelling from both Portsmouth and Lymington, or just one of the two? And presumably Southampton would not be worth the trouble, given it would be easier to cover Cowes by bus (bus 1 to Cowes; bus 4 from East Cowes)?
If there is anything else people would like to add, please do. Every little helps (as a certain damned supermarket would claim). Also, be aware that I am looking at starting rather slowly (in terms of FoSW mileage), as I am going to attempt to cover the Valley network on the first day; after that, I will probably be trudging up-and-down the Severn Beach Line.
Much obliged, and I hope to see some of you on the way perhaps! I will need to run this past the Uni first though, because I'm not sure what they will make of me spending upwards of £60 on travelling when I'm looking at not having enough money to get to the end of April and thus "milking" off of them... (They'll probably just say the same as always: "You can't put a price on wellbeing." Especially at an effective cost of less than £8 a day.)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Notice (craftily added as a new post to bring this thread back to the front line): It would appear that the Uni have, as expected, given their backing to the scheme. After all, this costs less than two day bus tickets in Bath, so to be able to cover Malvern to Penzance on eight different days is quite something!
Last edited:
hock:
:roll:
Also, I haven't had final clearance from my Uni yet (should have been today but the appointment I had was cancelled at short notice), so it looks like I may have to delay for a week. And if so, that means a right shake-up of the plans, because the plans for the 26th of March and 2nd of April (especially the latter, I've already bought an Advance from Brum in the evening!) are non-negotiable. Also, that would mean that any Riviera usage - which as yet is not accounted for, although total network coverage is - would need to be revised to the 9th of April, which would become the new last day.