Ivo
Established Member
Five weeks after the NWM Challenge it was time for the RailUK forces to congregate again on the field of battle, this time at London Bridge. The meeting arrangement was 10:15 at the top of the escalator leading down to The Vaults - and scores in the 70s and even 80s were expected.
After the disappointment and delays - and despair on my part after myriad 323s! - of Birmingham, I was feeling confident. I was again leading a team that boasted the RUK supporter of my least favourite football club, along with two others whom I had never met before. Neil AH was no stranger to me, and we needed little introduction after Brum; it was nice to be meeting causton and Matt E for the first time. causton and I met at Baker Street, where we had arranged to meet Matt but he rescheduled for London Bridge, where Neil was waiting at the top of the escalator. An behind him, a nervous-looking guy whom I repeatedly suggested to the others was Matt E... more than ten minutes later, I finally ignored the others' suggestion of him coming to us and asked if he was here for the Challenge - and my team was complete. Finally, eleven characters turned up, including a Tube Challenger whose name I forget (sorry!), and the five teams were ready.
10:30 came and the challengers were off. Mike Wh's son Bradley, fighting a worthy cause on his lonesome, casually followed my hastily-departing team to Platform 1, while the other teams (the Tube guy; asylumxl and MikeW; Mojo, yorkie and John@Home) all went in other directions. Bradley reached P1 before our train had even arrived, and asked what our rush was. His question was soon answered but the appearance of a 465 (the third rail equivalent of a 323... Urgh...) soon answered his question, and my team had our first point. Our journey down to Clock House was never exciting, and always slow, and ultimately behind schedule when we recorded a +2 on alighting the train. We would then walk to nearby Kent House (for which ATOC permit 15 minutes!) for the 11:13 down to Petts Wood and the start of a long-lasting toilet saga, where Neil bought the last sausage roll on our platform before I could...
At Petts Wood, the disadvantages of DOO were obvious. An elderly guy was trying to rush down the stairs for the train to Victoria, only for the driver to not see him and close the doors. Once they were closed though, he noticed and re-opened them! The elderly guy got on board, and as soon as he was on the doors were closed again and off it went. (A Guard would have seen him and waited...) Not long after came our train, a real MI6 of a 376 [007, naturally], and our journey to Hither Green began. It was uninteresting to say the least.
Even more uninteresting was the next journey - more than one hour on a 465. Ouch. Neil took the opportunity to ask why I disliked 323s, and I said that I could probably name 20 reasons. I came up with their floors, their toilets, their appearance and their speed, before Matt finished the job by reminding me of my having mentioned tables before. Eventually though, Neil was the one complaining about the journey through some of the capital's nicer parts (Bexley and the like), and in all fairness he had a case owing to the time involved. Not to mention all the sharp turns.
Upon arrival back at the Bridge, our time with Southeastern was through and we ran to the terminal platforms for my first ever journey on a 456. All the way to Whyteleafe South. Ouch. Slow and boring, but at least we were roughly on-time once more. And then began a roadside journey to Upper Warlingham, where we alternated between walking and running to ensure we made our 11-minute connection (10 minutes are advised for Whyteleafe to Upper Warlingham; our version has no official connotations) and found that Station Road is uphill. Fun.
As expected, a 377 pulled in for the next phase of the toilet saga, but to our surprise (given the voiceover had suggested four cars) a second pulled in attached to the first. We chose car 7 of 8, in case we needed to change platform at East Croydon for the 14:17 (from Caterham and thus Whyteleafe South! - This was our original plan...), which was ultimately not needed when causton advised us that both services were using P4. Meanwhile, our toilet saga took an interesting turn when Neil sat next to one - and refused to let us use it! We took the chance at East Croydon to buy some supplies - including my overdue sausage roll! - and boarded our formerly-expected train to Clapham Junction...
Only for things to look like they would be going wrong when we held outside of Selhurst for five minutes! Was Birmingham going to be repeating itself? And as the 455 slowly proceeded towards the Junction, it seemed to get slower and slower! We discussed emergency plans, including the idea of sending Neil through the Clapham Junction in the vain of hope of making the service [if he failed he would catch us after our next train]... so how the Hell were only 2 late at Wandsworth Common? Is the timetable really that slow? So onwards we went to the Junction, with time to spare. Our next destination was Sutton, where the toilet saga would conclude with me having to use the Ladies' - ouch! - due to the Mens' being unavailable (or, to my mind, nonexistant). causton almost missed our +11 here when he ran for a Starbucks, while Neil left the station to buy a chickenburger.
We left Sutton on our only train of the day to not be operated by SE or SN - a 319. Very littler of interest on the Wimbledon loop to be honest; shacks that make London seem small and only Neil's claim of a large mosque being of interest. I knew one existed locally somewhere, but the one he referred to in Morden is utterly ridiculous! It looks larger than most cathedrals! Alas, this and the Wimbledon mix of units were all we had to talk about on this dull leg.
Finally, we reached Streatham for our final change, a same-platform +6 for a stopper to the Bridge via Peckham Rye. A 377 passed through, and I wondered why. To my slight embarrassment, I forgot about the Beckenham Junction services - when we saw one there earlier. D'oh. Again, there was little of interest, although you could catch glimpses of a Millwall training session (to Neil's displeasure of course!), before our final arrival into the Bridge one minute early. Our time was 6h5m38s, and we were confident.
17:00 arrived and the teams - and Paul1609, who was meeting for the meal - were all united. Bradley (who had arrived with 90 seconds to spare and met his father and younger brothers at the Bridge) went first, and MikeWh had every reason to be proud of his son; a 78 for a route that had been planned only partially. The moderator team went next, and declared an ominous 86 - only for us to top them with 88! Ha ha! Revenge at last! The Tube guy (again, sorry...) revealed that he had scored 90, and was thus the winner. Congratulations to him. But, for once, I was happy with second - because of all the teams representing RUK in this apparent year of Tube vs RUK battles, we were victorious.
The meal was at Pizza Express (I'm bored of them now), and we later proceeded to the northern termini to see off John. Paul proceeded into a pub ahead of the rest of us, only for 17-year-old causton to be refused entry, as expected. As the oldest-looking of everyone who was still around besides Paul, I went in to tell him what happened, and he, yorkie and I split from the others who went over to Euston where we would meet them later. We watched the remainder of Spurs vs Blackpool, which went from 0-0 to 1-1 in the last few minutes (all we saw) and saw Blackpool have two penalties in quick succession - they missed the first but scored the second - and almost win with 5 seconds to go.
Finally, we met again at Euston, where the team began to split. bb21 arrived to meet us all, but my team with him was brief for I was off only ten minutes later. During our team on the balcony though, I was saddened to hear of the loss of Seve Ballesteros, one of sport's greatest characters...
I left Euston with little more than 20 minutes to get to Waterloo, but made it with more than five to spare. Being at the right end of Waterloo - for once! - helped, but even so it wasn't a problem. Mysteriously, the 458 intercom did not suggest a call at Twickenham, which did of course exist - but that's another story.
Thus concluded the activities and events of the South London Challenge. Another 2nd for my team after Birmingham last year (my debut of course), but this time, one I could be proud of. I had my revenge for that day, and that was good enough for me. Until the realisation alluded to in Post 4 of this thread anyway! :cry:
After the disappointment and delays - and despair on my part after myriad 323s! - of Birmingham, I was feeling confident. I was again leading a team that boasted the RUK supporter of my least favourite football club, along with two others whom I had never met before. Neil AH was no stranger to me, and we needed little introduction after Brum; it was nice to be meeting causton and Matt E for the first time. causton and I met at Baker Street, where we had arranged to meet Matt but he rescheduled for London Bridge, where Neil was waiting at the top of the escalator. An behind him, a nervous-looking guy whom I repeatedly suggested to the others was Matt E... more than ten minutes later, I finally ignored the others' suggestion of him coming to us and asked if he was here for the Challenge - and my team was complete. Finally, eleven characters turned up, including a Tube Challenger whose name I forget (sorry!), and the five teams were ready.
10:30 came and the challengers were off. Mike Wh's son Bradley, fighting a worthy cause on his lonesome, casually followed my hastily-departing team to Platform 1, while the other teams (the Tube guy; asylumxl and MikeW; Mojo, yorkie and John@Home) all went in other directions. Bradley reached P1 before our train had even arrived, and asked what our rush was. His question was soon answered but the appearance of a 465 (the third rail equivalent of a 323... Urgh...) soon answered his question, and my team had our first point. Our journey down to Clock House was never exciting, and always slow, and ultimately behind schedule when we recorded a +2 on alighting the train. We would then walk to nearby Kent House (for which ATOC permit 15 minutes!) for the 11:13 down to Petts Wood and the start of a long-lasting toilet saga, where Neil bought the last sausage roll on our platform before I could...
At Petts Wood, the disadvantages of DOO were obvious. An elderly guy was trying to rush down the stairs for the train to Victoria, only for the driver to not see him and close the doors. Once they were closed though, he noticed and re-opened them! The elderly guy got on board, and as soon as he was on the doors were closed again and off it went. (A Guard would have seen him and waited...) Not long after came our train, a real MI6 of a 376 [007, naturally], and our journey to Hither Green began. It was uninteresting to say the least.
Even more uninteresting was the next journey - more than one hour on a 465. Ouch. Neil took the opportunity to ask why I disliked 323s, and I said that I could probably name 20 reasons. I came up with their floors, their toilets, their appearance and their speed, before Matt finished the job by reminding me of my having mentioned tables before. Eventually though, Neil was the one complaining about the journey through some of the capital's nicer parts (Bexley and the like), and in all fairness he had a case owing to the time involved. Not to mention all the sharp turns.
Upon arrival back at the Bridge, our time with Southeastern was through and we ran to the terminal platforms for my first ever journey on a 456. All the way to Whyteleafe South. Ouch. Slow and boring, but at least we were roughly on-time once more. And then began a roadside journey to Upper Warlingham, where we alternated between walking and running to ensure we made our 11-minute connection (10 minutes are advised for Whyteleafe to Upper Warlingham; our version has no official connotations) and found that Station Road is uphill. Fun.
As expected, a 377 pulled in for the next phase of the toilet saga, but to our surprise (given the voiceover had suggested four cars) a second pulled in attached to the first. We chose car 7 of 8, in case we needed to change platform at East Croydon for the 14:17 (from Caterham and thus Whyteleafe South! - This was our original plan...), which was ultimately not needed when causton advised us that both services were using P4. Meanwhile, our toilet saga took an interesting turn when Neil sat next to one - and refused to let us use it! We took the chance at East Croydon to buy some supplies - including my overdue sausage roll! - and boarded our formerly-expected train to Clapham Junction...
Only for things to look like they would be going wrong when we held outside of Selhurst for five minutes! Was Birmingham going to be repeating itself? And as the 455 slowly proceeded towards the Junction, it seemed to get slower and slower! We discussed emergency plans, including the idea of sending Neil through the Clapham Junction in the vain of hope of making the service [if he failed he would catch us after our next train]... so how the Hell were only 2 late at Wandsworth Common? Is the timetable really that slow? So onwards we went to the Junction, with time to spare. Our next destination was Sutton, where the toilet saga would conclude with me having to use the Ladies' - ouch! - due to the Mens' being unavailable (or, to my mind, nonexistant). causton almost missed our +11 here when he ran for a Starbucks, while Neil left the station to buy a chickenburger.
We left Sutton on our only train of the day to not be operated by SE or SN - a 319. Very littler of interest on the Wimbledon loop to be honest; shacks that make London seem small and only Neil's claim of a large mosque being of interest. I knew one existed locally somewhere, but the one he referred to in Morden is utterly ridiculous! It looks larger than most cathedrals! Alas, this and the Wimbledon mix of units were all we had to talk about on this dull leg.
Finally, we reached Streatham for our final change, a same-platform +6 for a stopper to the Bridge via Peckham Rye. A 377 passed through, and I wondered why. To my slight embarrassment, I forgot about the Beckenham Junction services - when we saw one there earlier. D'oh. Again, there was little of interest, although you could catch glimpses of a Millwall training session (to Neil's displeasure of course!), before our final arrival into the Bridge one minute early. Our time was 6h5m38s, and we were confident.
17:00 arrived and the teams - and Paul1609, who was meeting for the meal - were all united. Bradley (who had arrived with 90 seconds to spare and met his father and younger brothers at the Bridge) went first, and MikeWh had every reason to be proud of his son; a 78 for a route that had been planned only partially. The moderator team went next, and declared an ominous 86 - only for us to top them with 88! Ha ha! Revenge at last! The Tube guy (again, sorry...) revealed that he had scored 90, and was thus the winner. Congratulations to him. But, for once, I was happy with second - because of all the teams representing RUK in this apparent year of Tube vs RUK battles, we were victorious.
The meal was at Pizza Express (I'm bored of them now), and we later proceeded to the northern termini to see off John. Paul proceeded into a pub ahead of the rest of us, only for 17-year-old causton to be refused entry, as expected. As the oldest-looking of everyone who was still around besides Paul, I went in to tell him what happened, and he, yorkie and I split from the others who went over to Euston where we would meet them later. We watched the remainder of Spurs vs Blackpool, which went from 0-0 to 1-1 in the last few minutes (all we saw) and saw Blackpool have two penalties in quick succession - they missed the first but scored the second - and almost win with 5 seconds to go.
Finally, we met again at Euston, where the team began to split. bb21 arrived to meet us all, but my team with him was brief for I was off only ten minutes later. During our team on the balcony though, I was saddened to hear of the loss of Seve Ballesteros, one of sport's greatest characters...
I left Euston with little more than 20 minutes to get to Waterloo, but made it with more than five to spare. Being at the right end of Waterloo - for once! - helped, but even so it wasn't a problem. Mysteriously, the 458 intercom did not suggest a call at Twickenham, which did of course exist - but that's another story.
Thus concluded the activities and events of the South London Challenge. Another 2nd for my team after Birmingham last year (my debut of course), but this time, one I could be proud of. I had my revenge for that day, and that was good enough for me. Until the realisation alluded to in Post 4 of this thread anyway! :cry:
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Just a shame about our miserable score of 58. More planning required methinks.... :P