Loconundrum

[enginedin]

I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet!

Someone has created a game called Loconundrum: https://loconundrum.aaronc.cc/ - the aim being to guess the UK railway station based on number of changes and time taken for the station you give as your attempts. It also tells you which letters in the CRS codes you guess are in the correct answer. You get 8 goes to guess the station. My attempt today:

Loconundrum #49
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EDIT: ah, the forum doesn't support the coloured boxes / emojis that it shows as your result! Well, I got it in 3 goes (1st guess: no change required / no letters correct; 2nd guess: 1 change required / no letters correct)

The changes / distances aren't perfectly accurate (I've seen it suggest a change is required where I know a direct route is possible), but I'd ignore that given the technical limitations (for those interested, the developer explains how he creates the routes of every possible UK station to the correct answer at https://aaronc.cc/2026/03/29/loconundrum.html)

 

[Mike395]

It's quite good fun! I play it with a WhatsApp group I'm a part of, and it's interesting to compare how you got to an answer (or didn't!)

Though I am suspicious about the Sunday timetable they say they used as the basis; one of my routes implied a line that doesn't have any Sunday service!

 

[rmHawk765]

Damn it, how did I forget about today's station's existence...

 

[Mike395]

(Please don’t post the solution, it spoils the fun for everyone!)

 

[Trainguy34]

I got it in 4, I got a lucky start route-wise, no letters though throughout.

 

[Elecman]

Got it in 2

 

[LickeyIncliner]

I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet!

Someone has created a game called Loconundrum: https://loconundrum.aaronc.cc/ - the aim being to guess the UK railway station ...

Just to clarify something I didn't see in the OP (nor in the instructions) - the aim is to guess the station of the day - so if you win you can only play once a day. Whether you can have more than go per day if you don't immediately win, I shall no doubt learn soon...

 

[185143]

Just to clarify something I didn't see in the OP (nor in the instructions) - the aim is to guess the station of the day - so if you win you can only play once a day. Whether you can have more than go per day if you don't immediately win, I shall no doubt learn soon...

You can't

 

[transportphoto]

You can't

An incognito tab, different browser, or similar, will likely be the solution for having another go.

 

[MerlinRail 804]

Got it in 2, turns out my fav station was pretty useful!

 

[AlterEgo]

That's a pretty good game, I got today's in two!

 

[birchesgreen]

I got it in 7, and its one of my fave stations too

 

[Horizon22]

I got it in 4. Anyone else start with a London terminal to at least get a general sense of the area it is?

 

[AlterEgo]

I got it in 4. Anyone else start with a London terminal to at least get a general sense of the area it is?

I started in Birmingham New Street. I felt a London terminal might be confusing if there were duplicate routes and/or the Tube in play?

 

[Horizon22]

I started in Birmingham New Street. I felt a London terminal might be confusing if there were duplicate routes and/or the Tube in play?

Tube does appear to be in play; it was yesterday anyway. BHM is a good one as well.

 

[rmHawk765]

I got it in 4. Anyone else start with a London terminal to at least get a general sense of the area it is?

I started with Watford Junction, and it would've been really easy from there had I not forgot about the station entirely

 

[Trainguy34]

I got it in 4. Anyone else start with a London terminal to at least get a general sense of the area it is?

I always do Kings Cross as you can get a good sense of terminal from there, what with it being near Euston and St P.

 

[GatwickDepress]

I always start with Leeds, and it hasn't let me down so far!

 

[Royston Vasey]

Got it in three the last three days. This is a brilliant game! I find that the walking connections narrow it down as they can only be in a few cities!

 

[gazthomas]

New player here, am I missing something? I couldn't get places like EUS (London Euston) to work, just got an error about there being no trains or an issue with the website.

 

[Drogba11CFC]

I'm calling foul on the most recent one -

 

[61653 HTAFC]

After playing 4 rounds, I'm considering what the best tactic is for a "starter" station... On my first go I started at Birmingham New Street, but didn't fully understand the mechanics of the answers and ended up not getting it right. Since then I've used Leeds as my first guess, as I'm more familiar with the service patterns from there... and it's helped me get the last 3, with yesterday's being a 2-step win... It also helped knowing the code has an S as the first or second letter, ruling out some places with comparable journey times from Leeds.

But is it best to start from a station like New Street or Leeds because they're "hubs"? Or to start somewhere with a couple of commonly-used letters in the code, and work it out from there?
I'm sure someone somewhere is working out the optimum starting station considering both factors... maybe it'll be a future Geoff Marshall or Jago Hazzard video?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 May 2026 ==

I'm calling foul on the most recent one -

I'd wondered how it would handle disruptions... presumably it ignores them based on today's station... but what happens when (eventually) the mystery station is somewhere like Denton or Pilning? Or worse, IBM? (presumably IBM and Teesside Airport etc. aren't eligible in reality, as they're de-facto closed).

 

[Trainguy34]

I think it uses journey data for 15/03/2026 from what I heard. Normally I start with Kings Cross as it has both Euston and St Pancras nearby which covered most of the North (and Kent!), aswell as somewhat distinct journey times to all the other terminals.

 

[Farigiraf]

But is it best to start from a station like New Street or Leeds because they're "hubs"? Or to start somewhere with a couple of commonly-used letters in the code, and work it out from there?
I'm sure someone somewhere is working out the optimum starting station considering both factors... maybe it'll be a future Geoff Marshall or Jago Hazzard video?

Dead-end stations like Penzance or Wick work quite well as there's not so many directions you can go in.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Dead-end stations like Penzance or Wick work quite well as there's not so many directions you can go in.

Though you're adding extra changes to your calculations there... My gut feeling is that a guess at Inverness will be just as helpful as one from Wick.

Edit- just got today's on the 2nd guess!

 

[ainsworth74]

I think it uses journey data for 15/03/2026 from what I heard.

I think it more accurately uses the Long Term Timetable as it has no idea that there were Durham Coast Diversions and Peterborough to Potters Bar was also shut on the 15 March even though that's the data it says it uses.

 

[Trainguy34]

I think it more accurately uses the Long Term Timetable as it has no idea that there were Durham Coast Diversions and Peterborough to Potters Bar was also shut on the 15 March even though that's the data it says it uses.

That would make more sense then actually, will have to learn to not believe everything I hear with things like this!

 

[ainsworth74]

That would make more sense then actually, will have to learn to not believe everything I hear with things like this!

I mean you've not been totally mislead, the website claims to be using the first available train after 1030 on 15 March 2026. But real world experience shows it's definitely not using the timetable that was in operation on that day so I reckon it's more accurate to say it's using a no engineering work Sunday timetable.

 

[ABB125]

Edit- just got today's on the 2nd guess

Likewise - I'm really enjoying this game. I struggled with yesterday's though, as I had a misplaced conviction that the station in question had a B in the CRS code. Given that I always start with New Street, and that showed that B was not in the answer, I was rather stuck... Also I feel like including a bus journey is cheating...

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Today's could have caught me out, as it's getting on for 20 years since I used the southern WCML... (Rest of post removed for spoilers)