Merseyrail Challenge, 29th October 2012

[Ivo]

I’m going to keep this short owing to not being at home - or anywhere else with free Internet! - tonight.

After an 0930 start, I arrived at Lime Street at 1004, having stayed the night at a Youth Hostel about half-a-mile south of James Street. My teammate for the day would be gnolife, who advised me that he would be arriving at Lime Street on time instead of us meeting at Huyton as had been the original plan. Lampshade was confident that he was going to win (as per usual) - until I advised him that our projected score was 66.

1100 came and Dan and I literally darted off, having to catch a train timetabled to leave at 1102 but actually due out at 1101, and amazingly enough we made it! It was out to Thatto Heath (my first time in St Helens), and then back again to Edge Hill. At 1149 we arrived into Edge Hill, knowing our most lenient change of the day was upon us, and then down to Hunts Cross to join Merseyrail, where the vast majority of our time would be spent.

Next it was up to Sandhills, to travel up to Ormskirk; we passed our train sitting at Central but ignored it, and similarly continued on past Moorfields as well. Sandhills it was, and then off via Aintree to Ormskirk, ready for our only non-rail move of the day, the 385 bus to Southport - courtesy of my best friends Arriva. And when a single-deck bus turned, I got worried.

I needn’t have worried. We arrived into Southport only very slightly late and managed the 300m run to the station, albeit with some half-wits attempting to stop us to conduct and Internet survey!

Never mind that – back down the Northern Line to Central, and across to the Wirral. First it was up to Wallasey Grove Road, then to Hoylake, and finally to Hooton. The Wirral Line didn’t let us down and as such we successfully returned to Lime Street with time to spare, arriving at 16:57. Up to the concourse, where others claimed we should have had a point off for reaching the concourse about 45 seconds late. Whatever.

Ultimately, our pitched score of 66 came through, and - as suggested by Crossover here - that was enough for a comfortable 7-point victory! Gahaha! Sorry guys - better luck next time! (Apparently it is "unfortunate" that Dan and I won. Sure it is )

That is all I shall say on the matter for now, given I am in a hostel in Manchester tonight. Thanks to all for coming, to Dan for being a great (and very lucky) teammate, and to the transport system of Liverpool for not failing me!

So, uh, where next? Anyone?

 

[Lampshade]

Well I arrived at Lime Street fairly confident of a good result, I'd been planning for weeks hock:

My first train was to be the 1103 from the Wirral platform, so upon arrival at Lime Street I did a dummy run down there, took 1:17 so 3 minutes was easy. All was well until I checked my plan with half an hour to go. Apparantly in some sleep-deprived state, I'd factored in a -11 at Birkenhead North. This meant not going up to Wallasey and instead catching the 1108 instead.

So I was two stations down before I'd even begun, though I knew I could get some back through a bit of bravery. After much delaying tactics at the meeting point (which, given Ivo and gnolife won, didn't work), we casually sauntered down to the Wirral Line and hopped on the 1108.

The plan was to go as far as Manor Road, but the driver had obviously had some chillies shoved up his backside as we'd arrived at each station consistently early; I made the decision to continue to Hoylake, a good call as it turned out, as a +2 ended up as a net +4, we'd arrived a minute early, the next train was a minute late.

So back to Hamilton Square, and a +3 onto a Chester service. I passed through my least favourite station (Green Lane) and down to Hooton, with 508139 making some awful noises. Another +2 and back into Liverpool, passing through James Street to Moorfields. An expected +3 ended up a +5, just as well as I sprinted through to the Northern Line with legs on fire from the stairs.

Next, to Ormskirk, 508138 doing the honours. A 25 minute wait at Ormskirk before a bus to Southport, from there all the way down to Hunts Cross, and back to Liverpool South Parkway.

I arrived into South Parkway at 1554 and bolted across to platform 2 for the 1559 London Midland service to Lime Street, I had no idea [STN]LPY[/STN] was so big, it's more akin to an airport terminal hock:

Upon arrival at Lime Street, there was enough time for a City Line run, so I jumped on the 1616 to Huyton, meeting AntoniC and headshot119 in the process. Recovery time from Edge Hill meant we arrived back into Lime Street with minutes to spare.

My total was 59 stations, second place, the best of the losers.

 

[Crossover]

1100 came and Dan and I literally darted off, having to catch a train timetabled to leave at 1102 but actually due out at 1101, and amazingly enough we made it!

Best moment of the day - so worth the delaying tactics just to see that!

I did wonder if there would be some bemused security guards watching and wondering who the two nutters running the length of Lime Street station were

 

[AntoniC]

Well me & Headbolt formed a team and our original plan was to do the Northern Line ( Central > Southport, Southport > Hunts Cross, Hunts Cross > Moorfields, Moorfields > Ormskirk, Ormskirk > Kirkdale, Kirkdale > Kirby, Kirby > Moorfields and then on the Wirral Line do Moorfields > Hooton and Hooton > Lime St.

What ACTUALLY happened was we went Lime St to Central and when we got to Central there was a Hunts Cross train, so we went there first and generally planned on the hoof !.

We then went Hunts Cross > Southport and back as far as Moorfields, changed at Moorfield and went Wirral Line to Bromborough, Bromborough to Hamilton Sq, Hamilton Sq to New Brighton, New Brighton to Birkenhead North, then Birkenhead North to West Kirkby, West Kirkby to Lime St.

We then had enough time to go City Line, Lime St to Huyton (and back with Lampshade) to arrive back at Lime St @ 16.58 (with two minutes to go).

Me and Headbolt finished 3rd with 51 stations and I would like to say a big thank you to Ivo & Headbolt for organising this and it was a real pleasure meeting all you other guys !

 

[Crossover]

Quick run down of our non-competitive day

The team comprised of myself, Yorkie, MattE2010 and maniacmartin.

After a more leisurely start than Ivo and gnolife, we headed down to Lime Streets low level platforms and caught the 11:08 towards West Kirby, along with Ascot and Lampshade. Ascot bailed at the newly reopened Central station whilst we bailed at James Street, leaving Lampshade to continue on the service (the service was formed of 508137)

We then decided to travel of the ferry and, getting soaked in the process thanks to the sudden onset of rain, walked to the port....to find no ferries. We instead took a random "Cumfy Bus" which turns out effectively does a sightseeing tour(!) and bailed about 20 minutes later at Lime Street again!

We headed back to the low level platforms and caught the service to West Kirby, travelling on 507020. The same unit brought us back again to Hamilton Square where we changed onto 508115 for a trip to Chester and back to Hamilton Square (calling at Capenhurst only on the return)

We headed to the ferry again (crossing the tram track), this time timed correctly, got our boarding passes and took the short hop across to the Pier Head and walking up to Moorfields to catch 507021 on an Ormskirk working, which we took all the way. Heading back on the same unit we bailed at Sandhills to avoid catching our planned next service in the (likely busy) central section.

Our penultimate "hop" saw us take a (currently) unknown unit, coupled to 507024 from Sandhills round to Liverpool South Parkway. There was the potential of making a late running Northern Rail service here but delays on the Merseyrail service meant we missed that (and thankfully, also missed a fast trek across from the low to high level platforms!) and caught the late running 16:59 (turned up at 17:03) London Midland service to Liverpool formed of 350258.

A total of 42 stations, with 2 time penalties for arriving back at 17:17

 

[VTPreston_Tez]

This sounded like a lot of fun! I'm shotgunning being with Ivo when I attend my first meet :P

 

[Crossover]

This sounded like a lot of fun! I'm shotgunning being with Ivo when I attend my first meet :P

One tip if you do...bring your running shoes

 

[bb21]

A total of 42 stations, with 2 time penalties for arriving back at 17:17

You get four penalty points for being 17 minutes late, not that it makes much difference.

Once again, gnolife is the king of the Challenges, having lost only one so far and won every other.

 

[gnolife]

So, as I said on the main thread for this, my day started with me signing on. This was supposed to be 10 minutes after my train left MIA. Luckily, I got seen half an hour before my alloted time, giving me 20 minutes to make it the 1.7 miles to the station. This task was made a lot easier for me when a 369 came along behind me about 5 mins down the road. I got to the Airport bus station (stand M) at 09:37. The problem with that was that I was going to be taking the 09:41 - and TPX were running a ticket barrier. That meant queuing up for a ticket - which, given that I was asking for a ticket that the booking office hadn't even heard of, was never likely to be a good sign. I got my tickets sorted at 09:40.34, leaving a pathetic 26 seconds before my train was leave. That connection was saved by something getting caught in the door of the 156 (I think), meaning that the doors had to be released again. I made it to Lime Street at 10:48, where I completely failed to spot the rest of the challengers. I would have thought that would have been somewhat difficult to do, given that I had met all of them, bar AntoniC and maniacmartin (I think), before - even if I couldn't remember one or two faces (specifically thinking of headshot119 there, so I apologise for that one). I was the last person to show up there, and so the waiting game began. With me and Ivo having a very nasty one minute to get across to the other side of the station, we were trying to persuade the rest of the group to move a bit closer to platform two. We didn't have too much luck with that, so we just had one hell of a sprint to make the train.

So I was two stations down before I'd even begun, though I knew I could get some back through a bit of bravery. After much delaying tactics at the meeting point (which, given Ivo and gnolife won, didn't work), we casually sauntered down to the Wirral Line and hopped on the 1108.

It came dangerously close to working - it took the dispatcher holding the train for us to make it on

I think that from this point, Ivo's summary just about covers everything, except for the fact that that run through Southport seems to have done something to my foot, which makes it extremely painful for me to put my weight on it.

So, thank you to the guy who got his luggage caught in the door of the train from the Airport for delaying the train enough to let me on, and to Lampshade and co. for holding us up for as long as possible at the start , to the platform staff at LIV for holding the 11:01 just long enough for us to get on, and to the owners of the Wellington pub in Southport for providing us with a landmark for the bus stop. And most of all, thank you to Ivo for letting me on his team.

and thank you to me for being a lucky charm at these challenges

Would anyone like to take a bet on where my next mad dash on a challenge will be?

 

[Crossover]

You get four penalty points for being 17 minutes late, not that it makes much difference.

1 penalty for up to 10 mins late and 2 points for up to 20, isn't it?

It was 17:17 at the station clock, though the train arrived in a bit before that

 

[Lampshade]

1 penalty for up to 10 mins late and 2 points for up to 20, isn't it?

It was 17:17 at the station clock, though the train arrived in a bit before that

One station penalty per five minute interval, or disqualification after half an hour

Next challenge - has there ever been a South Yorkshire challenge? There aren't many stations in SY so it could be a timed challenge like Zone 1 rather than a 'as many stations as you can' challenge.

 

[Crossover]

One station penalty per five minute interval, or disqualification after half an hour

Next challenge - has there ever been a South Yorkshire challenge? There aren't many stations in SY so it could be a timed challenge like Zone 1 rather than a 'as many stations as you can' challenge.

So it does. The train arrived before 17:15 though so maybe 3 penalties. Doesn't really matter either way :P

Is there a SY ranger type ticket? It has a possibility anyway.

Having used one yesterday, I do wonder if the Lancashire Day Ranger has scope for a meet (maybe a challenge) too

 

[Lampshade]

So it does. The train arrived before 17:15 though so maybe 3 penalties. Doesn't really matter either way :P

Is there a SY ranger type ticket? It has a possibility anyway.

Having used one yesterday, I do wonder if the Lancashire Day Ranger has scope for a meet (maybe a challenge) too

A South Yorkshire DayTripper is £6.30

The problem with Lancashire is it's a non-PTE product and quite expensive

 

[ATW Alex 101]

I'm shotgunning being with Ivo when I attend my first meet :P

Inbetweeners much.

This meet sounded fun and I was going to attend as my local is the wirral line but only until I found out that it was on the day I return back to school. I really wanted to attend as it looked great.

 

[Ivo]

Back in Bath now so I can fill in a few more details.

The secret to our success this time was the careful manipulation of the route to match the 385 bus (note the emphasis on the "8"; the 375 route is five minutes longer). Getting a good connection between Ormskirk and Southport can make or break a Merseyside Challenge, and knowing the two areas fairly well I knew that +11 would be more than enough at Ormskirk and +4 would suffice at Southport providing we didn't get held up. Nice try, Mr Internet Salesman -type person!

In truth, missing the 1101 wouldn't have made a lot of difference; all we would have had to do is get the 1116 and bail at Huyton, which would have cost us three points. Similarly, if we missed the 1358 ex-Southport, we would have simply had to forego the Wallasey stations and found ourselves with a very lenient +11 change at Central. The only other marginal problem was that our train to Hooton was late out of Hamilton Square and until literally Eastham Rake - i.e. the last station before Hooton - didn't look like making up the deficit!

Ultimately though, it would have taken all three of these issues to surface for us to have lost, and even then we could easily have bailed at Eastham Rake if we felt the need (which we did discuss).

Nice when everything works out, isn't it? As for next time? SY sounds interesting, but it wouldn't be the most worthwhile one we've ever done. Similar Challenges could potentially exist around Southampton/Portsmouth (insert Rover ticket here?), Bristol (insert cheap Rover ticket here?) and essentially any of the half-decent counties in the country. Lancashire sounds interesting too.

Oh, and dibs on gnolife for next time. He seems to get away with so much in these Challenges that he may as well be a leprechaun!

 

[Lampshade]

The secret to our success this time was the careful manipulation of the route to match the 385 bus (note the emphasis on the "8"; the 375 route is five minutes longer). Getting a good connection between Ormskirk and Southport can make or break a Merseyside Challenge, and knowing the two areas fairly well I knew that +11 would be more than enough at Ormskirk and +4 would suffice at Southport providing we didn't get held up. Nice try, Mr Internet Salesman -type person!

Aha, that makes sense.

I got the 375 to Southport, not knowing the area very well I was tracking myself on GPS. The train I ended up getting was the 1443, but as we got closer to Southport it seemed entirely possible I could have got the 1428, but I arrived at [STN]SOP[/STN] at 1432

 

[Trainfan344]

As an idea how about an Anglia Challenge? £16.00 Day rover, Valid after 08:45 weekdays and all day Saturdays and Sundays

 

[MidnightFlyer]

There's nothing to stop you proposing it of course, and I don't want to speak on behalf of others, but East Anglia's relatively sparse rail network almost certainly rules it out as a decent challenge - indeed I think most people would end up with identical plans! Ideally a challenge area needs to have a lot of lines and stations, close proximity stations and other transport links (buses etc) and high frequencies, none of which EA has in abundance. However it may be an idea for a general Day Ranger meet, there's no harm in posting it in the Meets Forum as an idea I suppose

 

[Trainfan344]

Have done so now.