South West and South Central London Railbash

[adrock1976]

Hi

I have got round to joining the forum after being a long time browser.

I am planning to bash the aforementioned areas of London as per thread title.

Do the times below seem reasonable (meaning that the connections are not too tight and that I am not spending longer than necessary to complete the railbash)?

In peace

Adam

1st January - South West London

Waterloo 1002 Ewell West 1033
Ewell West 1057 Motspur Park 1105
Motspur Park 1113 Chessington South 1125
Chessington South 1140 Raynes Park 1153
Raynes Park 1216 Hampton Court 1233
Hampton Court 1235 Wimbledon 1254

Wimbledon 1304 Hampton 1329
Hampton 1344 Teddington 1352
Teddington 1405 Twickenham 1412
Twickenham 1422 Feltham 1429
Feltham 1441 Clapham Jct via Hounslow 1513
Clapham Jct 1525 Whitton via Richmond 1550
Whitton 1550 Waterloo via Hounslow 1641

Also planning to bash a couple of South Central branches to finish off the day. Had originally planned to bash the (awkward) Epsom Downs branch but this is not running on 1st January, hence Ewell East, Caterham, and Upper Warlingham are being bashed (details below).

Victoria 1552 Ewell East via Mitcham Jct 1631
Ewell East 1636 Balham via Mitcham Jct 1701
Balham 1719 Caterham 1758
Caterham 1805 Whyteleaf 1810

Walk to Upper Warlingham

Upper Warlingham 1837 Victoria 1909


The remainder of South Central will be bashed on 2nd January. This is timed around the Parliamentary service that runs from Streatham Hill - Tulse Hill.

London Bridge 1025 Beckenham Jct 1101
Beckenham Jct 1113 Crystal Palace 1120
Crystal Palace 1132 Norwood Jct 1137
Norwood Jct 1146 Coulsdon South 1200
Coulsdon South 1228 Purley 1232
Purley 1246 Tattenham Corner 1309
Tattenham Corner 1321 Norwood Jct 1355
Norwood Jct 1405 West Croydon 1411
West Croydon 1422 Norwood Jct 1428
Norwood Jct 1435 London Bridge via Sydenham 1459

London Bridge 1522 Streatham Hill 1552
Streatham Hill 1601 Tulse Hill 1605 Parliamentary service
Tulse Hill 1629 West Croydon via Streatham 1649
West Croydon 1704 Epsom Downs 1728
Epsom Downs 1733 Balham via West Croydon 1813
Balham 1820 Streatham Hill 1823
Streatham Hill 1837 Victoria 1854 Also 1822 dep if running late

 

[yorkie]

If you need coverage to Ewell West, then you'll surely require Epsom? In which case why not start with a train to Epsom, and then change there and come back via Ewell West?

A Ewell East - West single is only £2.60.

Hampton Court is a tight connection, but is cross-platform, so you should make it.

Also if you are doing both Tattenham Corner & Epsom Downs in the same day, then unless the weather is poor, I would walk between them (unless you have mobility issues, of course)

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

 

[adrock1976]

(Snip)


The remainder of South Central will be bashed on 2nd January. This is timed around the Parliamentary service that runs from Streatham Hill - Tulse Hill.

London Bridge 1025 Beckenham Jct 1101
Beckenham Jct 1113 Crystal Palace 1120
Crystal Palace 1132 Norwood Jct 1137
Norwood Jct 1146 Coulsdon South 1200
Coulsdon South 1228 Purley 1232
Purley 1246 Tattenham Corner 1309
Tattenham Corner 1321 Norwood Jct 1355
Norwood Jct 1405 West Croydon 1411
West Croydon 1422 Norwood Jct 1428
Norwood Jct 1435 London Bridge via Sydenham 1459

London Bridge 1522 Streatham Hill 1552
Streatham Hill 1601 Tulse Hill 1605 Parliamentary service
Tulse Hill 1629 West Croydon via Streatham 1649
West Croydon 1704 Epsom Downs 1728
Epsom Downs 1733 Balham via West Croydon 1813
Balham 1820 Streatham Hill 1823
Streatham Hill 1837 Victoria 1854 Also 1822 dep if running late

My railbash of south central London turned out reasonably well today, despite various hiccups along the route.

Started well with the Beckenham Jct leg (rattling Class 455), returning to Crystal Palace on the same train. Nice views of the transmitter and Selhurst Park stadium on the approach after passing the grade-separated junction. It was then one stop to Norwood Jct (on the Sutton train) to change for the next intended leg. After checking the screens on the platform, I noticed the (Reigate or Redhill) service for Coulsdon South had been cancelled. I got back on the train and continued to West Croydon, as that was the next junction station and sort myself an alternative.

After alighting at West Croydon and checking the screen, I noticed there was an Epsom Downs train eight minutes behind, so decided to do this tricky bit. I attempted to see if I could walk across to Tattenham Corner, but only got as far as the main road and was confused as to which way to go. I had printed directions off at home, but forgot to bring them with me. I had decided to return from Epsom Downs back to Norwood Jct so as to try to bash the southernmost branches.

The time of arrival back at Norwood Jct was approximately 13:15, so attempted to try Coulsdon South again. No joy, as the 13:16 had been cancelled. I then decided to do Tattenham Corner, which was running normally (13:30). While I was stretching my legs at Tattenham Corner, I got chatting to a local explaining what I was doing, and mentioned about Epsom Downs station. It was explained to me that it is a simple walk around the edge of the racecourse, reach a roundabout, then go along the main road to it. I was left kicking myself as I realised this seemed a reasonable walk with the weather to match!

I returned from Tattenham Corner to London Bridge via Sydenham (non-stop from Norwood Jct) on the 14:21 departure. I then got the 15:22 to Streatham Hill as intended, ready in time for the parliamentary service round the corner to Tulse Hill, then 16:29 to West Croydon. I walked to East Croydon so as to attempt Coulsdon South, as this was where the real fun began.

At East Croydon, it was announced that there was a signalling fault in the Gatwick area, meaning that nothing was going there at all. I managed to board a late running 17:16 Horsham & Tonbridge service for the 2 or 3 stops to Coulsdon South, which crawled very slowly to Purley.

I checked both screens at Coulsdon South (which also shows services from nearby Coulsdon Town (formerly Smithfields, according to one sign)), and there were problems on both routes. The 17:46 to Victoria was running 21 minutes late, with also a service at Coulsdon Town being cancelled too. It was annoying seeing Thameslink trains whizzing by on the avoiding line in the middle of the two stations.

I got the delayed 17:46 back up to East Croydon, where I changed into the 18:48 all stations Victoria service to Balham. I made it for the slightly late running 19:05 to London Bridge, where I ended the day's bash. I would like to note that I had already covered Ewell East via Mitcham Jct, and both Caterham and Upper Warlingham branches 30 minutes ahead of schedule on the 1st. This means that I may have covered all of the south central area (Southern Trains) of London with no parts of services missing. I might have covered all track that is possible to do so as well, using Zone 1-6 paper day travelcard.

In peace
Adam

 

[D6975]

The +2 at Hampton Court missed when I tried it.
The problem is that there's a level crossing just south of the station. If the inbound's a couple of mins late, they try to get both trains across the crossing in one go.

 

[Urban Gateline]

The +2 at Hampton Court missed when I tried it.
The problem is that there's a level crossing just south of the station. If the inbound's a couple of mins late, they try to get both trains across the crossing in one go.

There's better timings on Weekdays and Saturdays, normally the train comes into Hampton Court at 12/42 past the hour and the same train leaves at 24/54 past the hour. (Summer timetable, maybe 1min earlier at the moment)