Network West Midlands Challenge

[sonic2009]

Well this is my very first report

Having planned a route and grabbed a team, who for this challenge was Ascot & DrSatan, we met up at Birmingham New Street.

1200 came and off we went onto the 1205 to Butlers Lane for a healthy +4 back to Aston on the 1234, 2 mins late departure from Birmingham reduced this to a +2 a connection made with ease.

Back to Aston arriving at 1253 with a +2 to the 1255 to Walsall arriving at 1314. Ascot did have a plan where we would go to Bloxwich North to gain bonus points, but the buses did not meet our requirements.

We stayed on the 323, which formed the 1331 to Wolverhampton arriving in at 1432, we discussed a change of plans whilst on this service which would involve a bus move later on in the day.

A walk to Wolverhampton St Georges for the tram back to Birmingham Snow Hill we departed at 1446 and arrived back into the second city at 1521, 5 mins late due to slow running in the tunnels in between Jewellery Quarter & St Pauls. A +6 on the 1527 to Earlswood from Snow Hill arriving into the outpost that is Earlswood at 1553, a rather risky +2 on to the 1555 back towards Shirley. Ascot & DrSatan weren't confident and were discussing pubs .

The connection was made on to the 1555 back towards Shirley where we would attempt a -1 on to the 49 bus to Kings Norton.

We arrived at Whiltlocks End, where we made a decision to bail in attempt to catch a S3 service to Maypole in the attempt to catch the 49 bus from there to Kings Norton. We arrived a was like were is the bus stop a decision was made to stand by the station and flag the driver down like tourists , 1603 the booked time of the bus went and passed, all of us thinking the bus had gone.

1605 came and the bus arrived to our relief, this bus was taken to Maypole where the bus we had wanted at Shirley to Kings Norton had just left, we caught a 49 6 minutes later hoping to arrive for the 1627 at Kings Norton to gain extra points with.Northfield, this didnt happen as the driver decided to stop for 5 mins in a Birmingham Suburb.

We caught the 1637 back to Birmingham New Street arriving at 1653, Gnolfie and BB21 were also aboard this train.

59 points were gained a good result, three teams tied, but the winners were Mojo, Max, Yorkie & ManiacMartin with 61.

Well done to my team for the risk of the S3 bus

 

[Lampshade]

Well I must admit I didn't start the day expecting to win; I'd never been to the region of the West Midlands before, let alone Birmingham. I boarded my train to Wolverhampton (a VT Voyager) and sat down in Coach D enjoying the 'free' wifi with a bacon roll (which was actually quite nice). My complete lack of knowledge of the West Midlands hit home when the train diverged right at Stafford Trent Valley Junction, I was officially in unchartered territory.

I arrived at Wolverhampton at 1030, bought the WM Ranger and immediately went on a reconnaissance mission to see how long it would take to run from the tram stop to the station, I got 2m 48s. The plan I'd come up with involved arriving at Birmingham Snow Hill at 1401, using the Metro to Wolves and getting the 1449 towards New Street, I wanted to make sure it was possible even on a really tight connection.

Arrived at New Street at 1118 and immediately got lost, I had no idea where the meeting point was and I was just wandering aimlessly around the new (or old) concourse. Eventually Crossover rang me and directed me to where everyone was.

Midday came and we all moved briskly in the direction of our first train. For Crossover and I, this was the 1215 Chiltern service from Moor Street. We 'walked' towards [STN]BMO[/STN] with bb21 and gnolife, being shadowed (and filmed) by another member on a bike (the footage of which I don't give permission to be circulated). Upon arrival at Moor Street, it was evident that problems at Worcester were affecting Snow Hill line trains; nevertheless we boarded our first train (168216, which I was rather impressed with) as far as Dorridge, during which I formed an opinion of the towns along the route... grim.

By now the problems had sorted themselves out, this side of Snow Hill at least, so we boarded the all-shacks stopper as far as Small Heath. We had initially hoped to go to Whitlocks End, but due to vandalism the 1314 was delayed - I spotted the 1330 was calling at Bordesley, and we worked out that we would drop five stations if we caught it, but gain three by calling at Bordesley. I figured that problems on the Coventry line and the earlier disruption had probably affected other teams just enough for us to gain an advantage here...

Nope. Most of the attendees were on this service, and we were all together into Snow Hill, up to Wolves, across Wolves and a rather entertaining journey back into Birmingham. To avoid penalties for using New Street, most of us continued though New Street to Aston, where myself, Crossover, bb21, gnolife, starmill and (I've forgotten your name, sorry , was it Searle?), alighted to wait for a service towards Sutton Coldfield, while yorkie's team carried on towards Walsall.

Having successfully convinced bb21 and gnolife we were going up to Lichfield and using the London - Crewe service to Rugeley, to return via the Chase Line, they left at Sutton Coldfield, whilst the rest of us carried on to Butlers Lane; Blake Street was just too risky. From there we ignored the departure boards which had been programmed by someone who I think, is a greengrocer, and caught the next cross-city service to Northfield - this would give us a one station penalty as we would arrive back at BHM at 1703, but we'd still have one more than if we'd bailed at Bournville.

On the way back into New Street, Crossover received a call from ATWalex101. Crossover asked where he was, followed by a pause, then a "you're in Coventry". If you heard uncontrollable laughter down the phone, that was us... sorry

Overall it was a good day, we didn't come close to winning but... meh, that honour is waiting for us in Manchester

 

[tractakid]

My first challenge of this format, and it was quite fun. Nothing went quite as planned from the very start, yet it couldn't have come closer to working almost perfectly.

As many others attending will attest, the 1203 to Longbridge was rather late, with the lateness transferring to the return service. Lots bailed to grab a bus but my plan was to go all the way back to Butlers Lane. Due to lateness, however, the double back occurred at Four Oaks, with about a minute to spare. This service was running on time, and I got back to New Street to pick up my only penalty point. Had a comfortable run to Moor Street and had time to pee considering my Dorridge train was 7 minutes late. At Dorridge, the train departed 7 minutes late, but then got held and ended up more than 10 minutes late. I was trying to calculate if I could double back early and still make my connection to Wolverhampton, when suddenly, at Snow Hill, the train was announced as running fast to Stourbridge. If the train made up the lost time, this would be FANTASTIC, as all the skipped stops I would be calling at later anyway. Indeed, it did make up the lost time and the return service departed on time, which meant I was confident of completing my route! I did have a 0 minute connection planned, but the WTTs said 1 1/2 minutes so it should have been fine!

Well, the train to Wolverhampton left before the public timetable according to Realtimetrains. The only backup plan I could think of was to get the next train to The Hawthorns, get the tram to Wolverhampton and get back to Birmingham. Surprised that I only just made it back in time having gotten an express no stop train (A Pendo from Edinburgh!).

Met loads of new people, your faces and names are mostly all a blur so please forgive me when I ask you again who you are should we meet again!

The day ended with me on my lonesome having booked myself onto the latest train out of anyone. Oh well.

I do propose that a train skipping a station that it was booked to call at should be counted as a point, the rule for Tube Challenges allows the visit in such a situation, and I think it makes sense.

Planned score: 57
Final score: 47

Well done to the winners, your route planning skills and clever buses trounced my ideas. Also, commendations to greatkingrat who improvised a score of 59 after his plan went out the window instantly!

 

[ATW Alex 101]

Well what an utter shambles for me

It started ok, I was in a team with Class92 and we were the first people taking part at the meeting point but there was another member there just showing his face, Adam it was (Sorry I can't remember your forum name) and we chatted for a bit when Sonic and somebody else arrived then Yorkie and then a load of other members turned up over the next 10 minutes or so (sorry no good with names :P) and we set off and me and Class 92 ended up on the same train as Yorkie, Mojo, Maniacmartin, Max and Tractakid. We boarded the 12:03 to Longbridge which left late, but we were still ok coming back from Longbridge and they all bailed at Kings Norton except Tractakid, who was with me and Class92 through the change at Four Oakes (due to delay) and then we bailed at Aston.

We caught the next train the 13:49 to Wolverhampton and seen Sonic2009 and his team on this train and it seemed we were both going for the trams. As me and Class 92 were on the way to the trams we passed starmill and Searle. Made the tram, uneventful journey to Snow Hill. Caught the next train to Moor Street. We then caught the Chiltern Railways service as far as Solihull where we would catch the 966 to Birmingham International where it all buggered up :roll:

We were over half an hour late into International and thats after the driver left Solihull about 10 late after chatting to somebody and then a silly diversion along the motorway to a junction (trundling may I add) only to go round the roundabout to come back and go to the junction where we were meant to get off on the other side!!! Not to mention the dawdling into International Station. We then caught the skylink and back and we could have still made it to Coventry and back to New Street for probably 5 past 5 but the train was delayed and got delayed on the way so we just missed the train from Coventry back into Birmingham! We caught the 17:02 Virgin Pendolino back to Birmingham where I phoned Crossover to ask how late could you be and he said half an hour so we would be ok as we arrived at 17:27. I wont mention much else about that phone call but when Crossover said "You're in Coventry" it seemed everyone burst into laughter :roll: leaving me a bit upset and angry but I can accept it and I was told that it wasnt at the fact I was at Coventry so don't worry , it's perfectly understandable and I would have probably done the same if I were in a similar situation!

Anyhow we arrived a bit late into New Street and back at the meet point for 17:29 so just in it, but by now everyone had obviously vacated and I didn't get the chance to say goodbye to everyone, but anybody attending should have had a PM from me

Even though it didn't go well for me and Class92, it was still a good day and I enjoyed meeting some other members I hadn't seen before and I like putting names to new faces so good to see you all and hope to see you all again soon!

Well done to Yorkie, Mojo, Maniacmartin and Max

 

[Crossover]

Was nice to see you/meet you all today

I will probably do a bit of a trip report myself (probably in my usual "short" style :P) in the next day or so

I do propose that a train skipping a station that it was booked to call at should be counted as a point, the rule for Tube Challenges allows the visit in such a situation, and I think it makes sense.

I think the only time it counts is a request stop, where if its booked to call but doesn't actually stop, it would still count (otherwise we would be rather unpopular with rail staff)

I can't think of many times where such a rule would be useful anyway. Plus one could argue it could work the other way if a train that you were on was given a Special Stop Order, in which case the station would count

We caught the 17:02 Virgin Pendolino back to Birmingham where I phoned Crossover to ask how late could you be and he said half an hour so we would be ok as we arrived at 17:27. I wont mention much else about that phone call but when Crossover said "You're in Coventry" it seemed everyone burst into laughter :roll: leaving me a bit upset and angry but I can accept it and I was told that it wasnt at the fact I was at Coventry so don't worry , it's perfectly understandable and I would have probably done the same if I were in a similar situation!

That explains what happened...I did wonder how you ended up so far from Birmingham at such a time. In my defense, we were on a 323 when you called and I was only picking up part of the conversation, so I was more clarifying that you had said you were at Coventry...you can blame the other three for the rest (the passengers on our service must have thought we really were nutcases :P)

 

[tractakid]

What was your final score, Alex?

 

[Class 92]

If we take off the points we lost because of the late arrival into New Street then about 50 instead of 55/56! We will blame the stupid buses and stupid roads and stupid everything! :-x :cry: :-x
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
We could of got into Birmingham early as well if we hadn't of needed to wait outside New Street for the route into Platform 1!

 

[TrainBoy98]

If we take off the points we lost because of the late arrival into New Street then about 50 instead of 55/56! We will blame the stupid buses and stupid roads and stupid everything! :-x :cry: :-x
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
We could of got into Birmingham early as well if we hadn't of needed to wait outside New Street for the route into Platform 1!

The plan you had got you should've got you 57 points, but there was an option that could've got you 59 (so you still wouldn't have won, oh well :P ) Shame about all the delays and getting stuck (somehow!) in Coventry!! How did you two manage that?!

 

[tractakid]

I have one piece of feedback as to how the event occurred... I don't feel enough emphasis was placed on the results. I realise that some people were stuck in Coventry, but the only results I know of are the ones I asked individual people about. It felt to me a little anticlimactic that it was a very simple 'you're the winners' without any sort of order of teams announced. I realise some people have to go more quickly than others but I don't imagine it would take too long to go through them. As a person fascinated by stats, I was slightly disappointed to not know much about how others did.

Having said that one thing, everything else was great, and if I can get there I hope to attend future RailUK challenges.

 

[yorkie]

A walk to Wolverhampton St Georges for the tram ...

That wasn't a walk! We were walking the other way, and randomly saw you running/jogging for the tram, while doing so you said something but before I could think what you said or what to say, you were gone!

... there was another member there just showing his face, Adam it was (Sorry I can't remember your forum name)...

Almost; Adham. I didn't recognise him at first due to him being dressed for a wedding (slight contrast with tractakid dressed for a sporting event!), and it'd been a little while.

... they all bailed at Kings Norton ...

...to get a bus, which we only just made (dodgy dash over a dual carriageway) to Shirley. We then boarded a train with the intention of travelling to Wythall, but unknown to us several others were already aboard that train! They must have been laughing at us when they saw us chicken out and bail at Whitlocks End! (Yes, we could have got 62 points!)

Anyway we boarded the train back towards Birmingham, and soon saw other members on-board. More joined, reaching a peak as we approached Bordesley itself, where one Challenger (greatkingrat) and a couple of cyclists alighted... to find the gates locked! So our train was delayed for the gates to be unlocked (by the driver!).

And again, more members turned up on the same tram (unusual, given the frequency of service), and at Wolves, there were some sightings of members going the other way to the tram!

It adds to the interest when you bump into other Challengers!

tractakid - I did say on the day it'd be best to jot down the results if you wanted a record It's really about the taking part but I am happy for results to be posted, if anyone can remember any other results, feel free to post them, and then you can get your stats

 

[Crossover]

Well, the day started relatively leisurely, having stayed overnight in nearby Stafford. After grabbing a quick cup of tea, it was time to head to the station, meeting yorkie soon after leaving the hotel, they having also been in Stafford overnight. With a good half hour to get from the hotel (Stafford Central Travelodge) to the station, we avoided the road past Tesco and instead wandered past the Picture House 'Spoons and onward through the ever wonderful Victoria Park and across the river there.

We were booked on the 10:03 Bristol service as far as Birmingham, a 1st class advance acquired only two days prior, for both less than a Standard Single to Wolverhampton (where we could have bailed to purchase the ticket for the day) and less than a Standard AP for the same Stafford - Birmingham journey (by a considerable margin). About 10 mins to kill at Stafford, there was the usual assortment of spotters dotted around the station and a few through workings; initially a Class 92 through platform 5 and then a Class 66 through Platform 4, signalled for the Wolverhampton line. 220033 rolled in soon after, a couple of minutes late. The journey was mainly a chance to catch up on online things, given the mobile (and thus mobile Internet) signal at the hotel was again not so great. As expected, we caught up with the freight service and crawled the last bit into Wolverhampton's platform 1 (unusual, as previously I have gone to Platform 0, where a Pendo was sat) before heading on to New St, where we arrived about 5 mins late (but at least with a 1st Class offering of a bottle of water )

Having not had breakfast yet, a move was made to The Briar Rose, a Wetherspoons only a short walk from New St, also later joined to Mojo, Max and maniacmartin. Heading back to New St for the 11:30 meet time, we arrived to find quite a few members also already there. A quick phone call, and dash down to the platforms, and I located Lampshade, who had got lost in the maze that is New St! As the time passed, a few members were trying out one of the new information screens near the meeting point, leaving it with the search term "ALL TRAINS CANCELLED", which amusingly didn't clear itself until someone else came to use it!

With everyone gathered/gathering, 12 noon, and the start time, quickly approached and we set off in all directions, probably confusing the other station users as to what madness was going on. Myself and Lampshade were first heading for the 12:15 from Moor St. We started off moving at a fair speed, which gradually slowed as we realised we had plenty time (I thought as much but Lampshade wasn't sure of the route ). Catching up gnolife and bb21 under the Bullring and being hotly pursued by Adham on his bike and wielding a camera (which some local youths decided to also get in on!), we made it to Moor St, and in via the direct entrance to Platform 2 from street level, in enough time to see the delayed stopper to Dorridge. We let this and a further service go (in this time I noted that Snow Hill now has LED signals) before the 12:15 Chiltern service to London Marylebone, which we were to take to Dorridge, formed of 168216. Not much to say about this journey, apart from noticing how Solihull is a shadow of its former self, with all the disused platforms and trackbeds (something we noted more on the return also).

Arrival at Dorridge was prompt as we crossed over the bridge to the island platform to await the 12:46 all shacks, which we were taking to Small Heath. During the wait, an LM 172 ECS passed through, as did a Chiltern Silver set, led (I think) by Thomas Telford, 67014. We were concerned about what the disruptions on the Snow Hill line may do to our service, but it arrived without issue, although it gave us a bit of a shock with the track noise it made on arrival, soon noted to be a track joint that had the surface of the rail missing on one side, making something of a racket. The unit was 172333 and the guard did a full ticket check before we even left the station. Departing near enough on time, we made our way to Small Heath, where, on getting up to alight, were stood on what turned out to be the cess side, leading the guard (stood waiting to give a release from the door opposite) to remark that "if you get off at that side, it'll make a lot of paperwork"

Leaving the train, there was initial confusion over the next platform, and the platforms opposite, before we realised the Buddleia covered island was probably out of use, reinforced on noting the signal post and gates from the stairs. We were due to have about 10 minutes here, before taking a train to Whitlocks End and back, and having exactly 48 minutes to get from Snow Hill to Wolverhampton via the tram...a tall order to say the least. The Whitlocks End train was running a few minutes late (and would form the return) and it was noted the 13:35 towards Snow Hill was calling at Bordesley. Hastily, we decided to drop 5 stations in favour of picking up 3 points from the aforementioned and a much nicer connection to Wolves. I had a feeling we wouldn't be the only forum people on this train, but as 172344 rolled to a stop, with us boarding the front, there was no sign. I figured we'd soon find out as I was sure some forum members, if on board, would make an appearance at Bordersley...

Arriving only a couple of minutes later, I stuck my head out of the door to find Searle, starmill and gnolife looking down from the back. A few got off but there seemed to be some confusion over something, soon turning out to be the station was still locked up. The driver made an appearance and soon sorted this out, in the meantime, I took the option of "bagging" the station by stepping on the platform (not something I do as a matter of course, but hey, the chances of me being back here any time soon are low!). Back on board and on the move once again, starmill and Searle ventured through to the front of the train where we were, before the majority of passengers departed at Moor St and we alighted at Snow Hill. A quick (quicker than I'd have probably liked) dash across to the tram now ensued, up escalators and down many steps. Arriving just in time (the trams don't hang about!), we joined T69 number 13 (oo-er!) for the journey, moving up to the front and meeting up with about half the challengers! (myself, Lampshade, Searle, starmill, gnolife, bb21, Mojo, Max, maniacmartin and yorkie all present)

It appeared we may be all on similar plans going forward, but with no-one wanting to reveal their game plan, discussions turned elsewhere. Throughout the challenge, I had decided to note down each station we called at (to make totalling up easier) and the times we were there - this became a bit difficult to keep up to on this stop every minute or two! Especially as through discussions, stations were passing without me even realising!

We screeched (I assume on time) into Wolverhampton St Georges and I very quickly lost Lampshade, whilst the rest sauntered off into town. Locating Lampshade again, we made our way towards the bus station and onward to the main station, meeting bb21 and gnolife walking the other way, also a shop (by this we gathered there was no earlier stopper towards Birmingham than the planned 14:49. In the meantime, a few of us (having now joined us at Wolverhampton) took some time to watch the coming and goings of a VT Voyager (the new valances look like they mean business!) and a pair of ATW 158's before heading to Platform 5 to join 323203.

Not unexpectedly, we were all taking this beyond New St, to avoid the penalty, and myself, Lampshade, Searle, starmill, bb21 and gnolife bailed at Aston, leaving the others on board. This is where the fun began as we somehow managed to successfully convince bb21 and gnolife that our plan was to go to Lichfield Trent Valley and loop round to Birmingham via Rugeley and the Chase Line. This continued on the 15:32 service from Aston onboard 323201 until bb21 and gnolife disappeared to the far end of the service for the best location for the platform change at Sutton Coldfield, after which we realised the remainder of us had pretty much the same plan.

Off we hopped at Blake Street, from the back of the unit, and straight up the rather steep slope/staircase to the roadbridge and down the equally steep one at the other side. Intending to take the 15:54 service towards Northfields, we were somewhat confused that the boards advertised a 16:04...and a 16:24...and a 16:44...despite trains being every 10 minutes. We chose to ignore the boards and see what turned up. 323240 turned up right on cue at 15:54 and we were on the final leg of the journey, fairly uneventfully.

With only 4 minutes at Northfields, and not knowing where to be for the platform interchange, we were thankful that from our vantage point at the front doors of the unit, that we didn't pass the steps until we stopped pretty much dead in line with them...result! Heading across, Lampshade had time to try and purchase a platform ticket (but predictably, couldn't) and we saw a 170 come through on an express along the non-electrified lines. Thoughts now turned to the finish as 323241 rolled in on the 16:44 service, as we were booked into New St at 17:03 and platform 8a. A little ingenuity (confusing the others, it has to be said) from my knowledge of New St figured we should be at the back of the service for a quick dash back to the "B" end of the platform and up to the new concourse (given the time at the meeting point is what counted). Having made up any lost time by the time we left Five Ways, things took an interesting turn when I got a call (as a challenge organiser) from another team. We were in the tunnels outside New St by now and I managed to work out it was ATWalex101 and also caught the word "disqualified". Asking if they were back at New St, it became apparent they weren't and were at Coventry. On clarifying this, the rest of the group heard and I then couldn't hear anything for laughing from the group on my train (sorry ATWalex101 )

Crawling into New St, first through platform 8b, we came to a stand just in 8a, just as I had planned. As soon as the doors were released, we were off across a, luckily very quiet, platform 8 and up the escalator to meet the gathered group of RailUK members. Arrival at 17:04 meant we had kept to just one penalty point and myself and Lampshade had a respectable total of 56 (57 less the one penalty). The winners, having scored 61, meant even with the original (and somewhat risky) plan to get us 58 still wouldn't have cut it :P

We were the next to last team back, but had to head off before ATWalex101 and Class 92 could return, they arriving at just before 17:30.

My last moves of the day consisted of XC's 43384 and 43366, along with yorkie, on the 20:03 service to Leeds. Getting a table, we found someone had left a load of "old" reservation coupons on the table. Looking through them, one of them turned out to be the reservation for an advance ticket later that evening (the 21:46 from Stafford to Liverpool Lime St)...looks like someone may have had some explaining to do! Arriving on time and going our separate ways (but not before seeing the last train to Knottingley appear as a 153 and appearing to leave people behind ), I headed to platform 13 for the 22:17 local stopper towards Huddersfield, formed tonight of the somewhat luxurious (for this line anyway) 158861...complete with fully open hopper windows...nice try Northern!

A few images to end with too:
1. Alstom Pendolino (390104) passes an unknown Class 350 at Stafford - someone didn't realise I was using the phone in camera mode :P
2. Northfields Railway Station
3. 158861 (complete with open hopper windows) stands at Dewsbury on a working to Huddersfield

 

[Starmill]

Hmm, nice 'short' report there Crossover!

I'll add my own few words on this if I may, a bit late as usual!

Searle was my teammate for this one and I have to say I was impressed by the number of different plans he came up with! Suffice to say the one we ended up doing was not really much like any of them, well, not at first at least.

I had arrived lovely and early for this one, just before 08:00 into New St that morning on what I thought was a rather odd Preston to New St Pendo... meh, it was cheap (and so it should have been at that ungodly hour, not that the TM was bothered with a ticket check!).

I had a look around the Snow Hill lines from Smethwick GB, riding the Parry People Mover for a bit and noting the disruption that meant that trains were unable to run between Kidderminster and Worcester. That really should have given me pause to alter the plan, but I made it to Stourbridge and back without much of a problem. Much to my surprise, after I got off at Snow Hill, a Chiltern Loco Hauled set turned up bound for Marleybone! Apparently gnolife was on it too, but right at the back so I didn't see him, and we both doubled back from Solihull.

A quick (not that quick) run back to New St from Moor St left me with what I thought was insufficient time to get down to Searle's Pendo from Euston at Coventry. In fact there probably would have been enough time to get it, but I'd messed my times up and just did a run down to University and back, much to his amusement!

After I got off my return from University, a 323 (I'd taken a Hereford 170 there on the way) the other end of the platform soon became occupied by a pair of ATW 158s, which I went over to listen to the announcement for because I wanted to hear if the 'brummie man' would say "LLANFAIRFECHAN" or "PENMAENMAWR". Alas, Anne ran the announcements, but who should I bump into but Sonic2009! We went up to the little information hut together which I didn't know existed (and I tore a WM Rail map out of the bus map because the one in the middle of the ticket guide is hard to read due to the page divide) and we went to the meeting point.

Surprisingly, we were the only people to run for our first train - the 12:01 LM to Liverpool Lime St (okay, perhaps it's not THAT surprising then!!). But we made it and it was 1 train ahead of what we had planned, so that was all good! Unfortunately, our intended train from Galton Bridge to Rowley Regis was cancelled - as were a number of trains in both directions along the Snow Hill lines... Oh dear. We went to Rowley anyway because we thought we were early but as luck would have it, there was no train for nearly half an hour going back to Birmingham when we got off there.

Long story short in the first 45 minutes of the challenge we got 3 points, if you include New St. Eventually, a train did turn up going down to Dorridge, but we had planned to go all the way to Wythall and then back up on the Bordesley train, which was no longer going to happen. The most frustrating thing though? The train towards Snow Hill that we got on at Rowley Regis was the same one that we had gotten OFF minutes before going to Stourbridge Junction! Urgh!

We got a point we hadn't been counting on for Langley Green on the way back and then changed at Snow Hill - the idea being that it it all went wrong from here we would abandon and get on the tram to Wolves.

Fortunately, a Whitlocks End train arrived just after ours as we had expected, so we took that as far as Spring Road and ran over the bridge to catch the train calling at Bordesley on the way back. Others have provided good accounts of what happened, but I was a little concerned to hear Mojo shout after hearing where we'd gotten on that we should have gone down to Hall Green, as it was a 'perfect interchange' - we could see it, and I don't think so!

Anyway after seeing Crossover and Lampshade at the front during the business with the locked station door (hehe!!) we decided they would be more friendly than the staff team - though Searle did manage to dish out a bit of his chocolate cake Thanks!

What followed was the already reported dash on the tram and then a jaunt through Wolverhampton. I was shocked (not) to find that people thought the tram in the Midlands was faster than Metrolink! How dare you diss my bananas! Though the debate about the Eccles Line is for another time and I suspect Crossover has a thing or two to say about our signalling and yorkie's tuppence was about how we have too many single line sections and flat junctions! Anyway, I digress, more cake was consumed, which doesn't appear to be allowed on their trams either. Oh well!

We didn't know what was happening exactly at this point as everyone was going off towards the town, not the station, and I have no idea where Crossover and Lampshade went until we found them back in Wolverhampton station, and saw ATWalex going the other way with his teammate. We used the same trains as in Crossover's very detailed account from this point forward, though we didn't know it while they were trying to convince everyone that they were going to Rugeley TV! Some interesting discussion did ensue on the Wolverhampton to Walsall train (first guard to check my ticket all day!) and I had to go for a look at Tipton, built as it is just like four stations in suburban Manchester on the Styal line that is close to my heart. Apparently Lampshade was familiar with this too, which was a surprise! Small world

We didn't win, and I've no idea what we got, I guess Searle might remember if he sees this. We DID take up the clever idea of going over by 5 mins but picking up two additional points at the end by going out to Northfield instead of bailing at Bournville as planned.

I should also say to ATWalex that we didn't mean to laugh at you when we heard Crossover on the phone, it's just his unique brand of Yorkshire humour:

"Oh right, you know it's nearly five now don't you? Are you at New Street?"
...
"W- You're in Coventry!?"

Sorry!

It was very pleasant indeed to end the challenge with a quick trip to the Airport thingumibob at Birmingham International with Searle and gnolife but we had to be quick cos of our advances - as did most who dashed off straight away actually. Indeed I was very quickly on my way back to Manchester on a 350/2 (eeeeew hard seats) to Crewe and another Pendo from there, which took blooming ages and was as stupid an itinerary as one can get really, but at least I had someone to talk to for most of it, which was also very pleasant.

So thank you to all the new people I met and some faces I've seen once or twice before.

 

[Searle]

We ended up getting 54, three or four less than the original plan. Not too bad for a first try I feel, although I'm not sure if I could cope with the stress of any more!

I stayed with starmill through the day until I went off at about 18:20 to catch the 18:50 to Euston. The First Class Lounge was shut which is poor form at half six on a Saturday evening, so I made my way down to 390148 which was in Platform 1, and I sat in Coach M. About three passengers walked through Coach M, into the staff only bit, looked around before walking back! I wonder if it's a normal occurrence. We left New Street on time, and a ticket check was quickly done. After the automatic announcements were done, we were told that if we wanted anything then we'd have to go to coach C to get a free drink and snack box. There was an older man with me, who got up to go to the on board shop, before returning shortly after without anything, it turns out he had got to coach U, got confused and came back! I agreed with him that the service was abysmal and I don't know what's happened to VT, they seem to have put no effort in over the past few weeks. I went to Coach C to get myself some coke (instead of getting a bottle I got two 150ml cans?!), and a tea for the man who was in Coach M with me.

I had a quick change to Finsbury Park from Euston, and this was made even worse by the fact that we were 8 minutes late, so I literally sprinted as fast as I could to get the tube and to Finsbury Park, just to miss my train by 30 seconds. Virgin Trains are in my very bad books right now! I had to wait at FPK for 29 minutes for the next train back, not something I wanted to be doing. I got back to Hertford North ok, and after walking home, completely stressed out, I then went straight back out to pick up my Mum from a concert (Ronan Keating!) in Audley End, not something I really fancied. It was then straight off to a mate's house to watch the DOTA 2 Internationals (of which my avatar is from ), for the next two nights, completely messing my sleeping pattern