Spontaneous Journeys

[deltic1989]

Me and Mrs deltic were having one of our regular random chats last night and we came up with this idea. What you basically do is pick a staffed station at random, go up to the ticket window with a pre arranged amount of money say 20 pounds and see how far you can get and still get back to your start point (so a return). This will produce maybe a fair few options so you take the option leaving the soonest, this obviously works better if your not fussed where you wind up. Any one else thought of this? Could be a good way to go station bagging. Oh and each time you do it vary the amount of money and time of day.

Mods if ive put this in the wrong place, please move.

 

[Matt Taylor]

I've done something like this but it works better with a staff pass. I turned up at St Pancras and simply got on the first available train....ended up in Sheffield.

 

[LE Greys]

I've often wished I could just stick a pin in the map and decide to go to the nearest station, but there's always the risk it might turn out to be Wakefield Kirkgate.

 

[sprinterguy]

I'm prone to doing this when I've been unable to come up with a set plan for what to do with the day. I tend to do it as a series of 15-30 mile hops from one station to another, and then on to the next via a different train, with an eye for which towns offer the best pubs en route. It's quite disappointing if the money runs out in some god forsaken hell hole like Crewe though.

A variation on the theme is the "avoiding Crosscountry" challenge: Aiming to get between two stations on the Crosscountry "core" network by any means other than Crosscountry, sticking as close to the XC route as possible (So "via London" is usually cheating).
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I've often wished I could just stick a pin in the map and decide to go to the nearest station, but there's always the risk it might turn out to be Wakefield Kirkgate.

That's just the risk you run! Just like my example of Crewe above.

 

[Crossover]

I remember someone doing this at uni - I think they may have ended up in Holyhead

The most spontaneous I have been is getting bored of being in on a Saturday afternoon so decided to head to London (from Milton Keynes, so not too far) and travel round there for a few hours

 

[gnolife]

I go for mashing keys on my keyboard on NRE, and if it gives me a valid station great, if not, i try again

That said, I have had HDG come out for it, which is my local station!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I go for mashing keys on my keyboard on NRE, and if it gives me a valid station great, if not, i try again

That said, I have had HDG come out for it, which is my local station!

The booking office at HDG was closed for refurbishment on 11th April and it was still closed this week, many weeks behind schedule :roll:

 

[gnolife]

The booking office at HDG was closed for refurbishment on 11th April and it was still closed this week, many weeks behind schedule :roll:

I've not actually noticed that the ticket office is shut at all - im usually out before it opens, and back after its shut though

 

[asylumxl]

I do this all the time, and I end up in the Midlands, then wonder why I bothered lol.

 

[Jordy]

I went to Northern Ireland for 2 days earlier in the year with 2 days notice, that was pretty spontaneous for such a big trip!

 

[yorkie]

No, you won't find me doing that as the fares are too ludicrously expensive for most routes these days. You have to use every available trick, such as online discounts, Routeing Guide anomalies, buying further than you wish to travel and stopping/starting short, and splitting the journey into a combination of ticketsl, just to make the fare a level that is acceptable!

Northern Ireland is a trip we had planned for a while but only finalised with about 2 days notice, that's because NIR isn't overpriced unlike on the mainland and the ferries don't force you to pay 10 times the price for booking on the day either! Plus there's Rail & Sale which is the only long-distance affordable walk-up fare in existence, though we didn't need that as Mr 'Metcam' gave us a lift

 

[quarella]

In the position of having rail staff boxes I have come close to being stranded a few times when I used to just go for a random journey. I think being stranded would have been better than being in Brighton trying to get to London on the day of the London - Brighton cycle race when Thameslink had their ridiculously over subscribed £1.00 fare I think it was. I do my best to avoid travelling on the TOC I work for outside of work so I can compare what the competition is offering

 

[Techniquest]

I went to Northern Ireland for 2 days earlier in the year with 2 days notice, that was pretty spontaneous for such a big trip!

I can beat that, went to Northern Ireland for a day (well, in terms of actual hours I was there for the best part of two days) with <12 hours notice! Indeed, by the time I had settled on where I was going and booked a night's stay, the time between then and the train of choice (0604 from Trowbridge) was no more than 4 hours!

Went on a really spontaneous trip once way back in the autumn of 2003, decided at some silly hour of the morning that I was going to get the 0330 Swansea to Paddington and get the 180 working on the 0700 back to Swansea. All that way just for a 180, seems mad when I look back at it.

Spontaneous trips are some of the most fun, as you don't know for sure until you head out where you're going, even then only when you reach the ticket office sometimes. For the best result, a ranger/rover is best so you can drop plans quickly and do something else/go somewhere else at the drop of a hat.

 

[trickyvegas]

I've often wished I could just stick a pin in the map and decide to go to the nearest station, but there's always the risk it might turn out to be Wakefield Kirkgate.

You could end doing something like Buxton to Matlock

 

[SS4]

A variation on the theme is the "avoiding Crosscountry" challenge: Aiming to get between two stations on the Crosscountry "core" network by any means other than Crosscountry, sticking as close to the XC route as possible (So "via London" is usually cheating).

BHM - LEI takes about 3h20m if you avoid XC! Although at least it suggests a day ranger as the cheapest tickets changing at Crewe and Derby (£51) or via MKC, BLY and BDM (£60)

I wouldn't mind trying but would probably end up going to London with LM perhaps breaking my journey en route

 

[Statto]

A bit off topic, but still on the same thing, i did a bus journey from Southport to Preston quite a long time ago, & decided to then do a National Express Coaches Explorer & this was in December quite a few years ago, & i did the Plymouth-Glasgow coach journey which took 13 hours.

 

[Statto]

Inspired by Deltic 1989s thread in the NR section of this Forum, i've decided to take this further to include any spontaneous journey regardless if it's by Train or not.

i did a bus journey from Southport to Preston quite a long time ago, & decided to then do a National Express Coaches Explorer & this was in December quite a few years ago, & i did the Plymouth-Glasgow coach journey which took 13 hours.

 

[SS4]

I did go from the Imperial War Museum to the Rocket pub near Euston via Piccadilly Circus, Green Park, Kings Cross and Euston Square before doing the sensible thing and walked to my destination. In reality I should have just got a 59 bus!

Back in my student days I got bored and went on a bus/rail journey all around the West Midlands (I had a student nnetwork pass) and took a short trip on the metro

 

[deltic1989]

One evening I was totally bored, so I decided to take a little drive to nowhere in particular, somehow without intending to wound up in Great Yarmouth.

 

[Jordy]

I have merged the two threads

Northern Ireland is a trip we had planned for a while but only finalised with about 2 days notice, that's because NIR isn't overpriced unlike on the mainland and the ferries don't force you to pay 10 times the price for booking on the day either! Plus there's Rail & Sale which is the only long-distance affordable walk-up fare in existence, though we didn't need that as Mr 'Metcam' gave us a lift

Indeed - although remember I wasn't originally intending on doing the trip as I wasn't available on the dates originally planned!

 

[Minilad]

When I am on an ALR I quite often have no plan for the day and just jump on anything that a feel like at the time and get off when I feel like it and repeat the process.
In fact when I am on an ALR I rarely have any plan at all

 

[heart-of-wessex]

I have never really used a plan on an ALR, it's too boring for me to set out where I am going then just follow orders on my plan when I am on the ALR, I know exactly where I am going.

My last ALR did actually require a bit of planning and knowledge of where I was going, as it was a (part) loco hauled ALR so to fall on the beds, Workington Shuttles and the WSMR services, some amount of planning and phone calls to FSR were needed.

I have actually bought an ALR with under 8 hours I believe until I thought of getting one, Techniquest can back me up on that!

 

[ACE1888]

Great idea, if i could afford it I'd got everywhere and anywhere by Rail, alas I don't have any passes or indeed work on the railways..damn and blast etc

 

[Toad]

Went to Corfu (Ipsos) in 91 with my mate Rob.

One morning went to get a couple of papers and some water from the Supermarket and came back two days later.

Met a fine young lass from Newcastle in the Supermarket, ended up in another resort (Kavos)

That was spontaneous !!!