"Visit every mainland UK station" challenge (hypothetical)

flitwickbeds · 2 Jul 2019

We often hear of the "visit every Tube station in a day" challenge.

What about every UK mainland National Rail station?

If you were setting the challenge, what would be the maximum time? 10 days? A week? A fortnight?

If you were doing the challenge, where would you start and end? What routes would you take? Obviously you'd need to sleep overnight and pick up again the next day (you could use the Riviera and Caledonian Sleeper for two of the nights).

Any particularly difficult parts of the network for this challenge?

EDIT FOR CLARITY: I'm thinking the rule would be you have to "visit" each station by either being on a train which stops to pick up/set down passengers, or by joining/alighting the train.

RailUK Forums

ArchieWoodbine · 2 Jul 2019

You might want to check out Geoff Marshall's "All the Stations" video series on YouTube - he's essentially done something very simmilar.

flitwickbeds · 2 Jul 2019

ArchieWoodbine said:
You might want to check out Geoff Marshall's "All the Stations" video series on YouTube - he's essentially done something very simmilar.

Yes, this was semi-inspired by this. However I'm thinking it would be a challenge to do it as quickly as possible, dealing with delays and everything, constantly strategically planning in order to do it as quickly as possible.

I believe All The Stations were under no real time deadline and it was more about exploring different places rather than simply about the challenge under time pressure?

3rd rail land · 2 Jul 2019

flitwickbeds said:
Yes, this was semi-inspired by this. However I'm thinking it would be a challenge to do it as quickly as possible, dealing with delays and everything, constantly strategically planning in order to do it as quickly as possible.

I believe All The Stations were under no real time deadline and it was more about exploring different places rather than simply about the challenge under time pressure?

it would certainly be a challenge to try and do it as quickly as possible however I am not sure many people would want to try and set a record for this. If I were travelling to every station the UK I would want to take some time to see some of the sights, enjoy the scenery, meet people etc...

At least attempting all the tube stations in the fastest time only takes a day where as a challenge like this would take several weeks and require a lot more planning given some stations only get 1 service a week.

farci · 2 Jul 2019

3rd rail land said:
it would certainly be a challenge to try and do it as quickly as possible however I am not sure many people would want to try and set a record for this. If I were travelling to every station the UK I would want to take some time to see some of the sights, enjoy the scenery, meet people etc...

At least attempting all the tube station in the fastest time only takes a day where as a challenge like this would take several weeks and require a lot more planning given some stations only get 1 service a week.

You need to set the rules very carefully - with/without: rail replacement buses, over-running engineering works, NR signal failures, skip stopping etc. Looking forward to your itinerary

3rd rail land · 2 Jul 2019

farci said:
You need to set the rules very carefully - with/without: rail replacement buses, over-running engineering works, NR signal failures, skip stopping etc. Looking forward to your itinerary

If I were to try and visit every NR station it would be with the same rules as All the Stations. As for rail replacement buses I would try and avoid them but if that was not practical then I would need to be on one that calls at all the same stops that the train it is replacing was due to call at. I wouldn't want to alight/board at every station because it would take a ridiculous amount of time to complete and I have a life to live after all!

As for routing I would try and start at either the most south westerly station in or the most north easterly or north westerly station in Scotland and work my way up or down to the other end where possible, doubling back to fill in any really awkward stations such as those with very limited services.

Andrew S · 2 Jul 2019

I wonder if a more interesting challenge would be to cover every stretch of railway open to passenger traffic? It could involve lots of interesting but tricky parliamentary trains.

route101 · 3 Jul 2019

Andrew S said:
I wonder if a more interesting challenge would be to cover every stretch of railway open to passenger traffic? It could involve lots of interesting but tricky parliamentary trains.

Thats what im doing , slowly but surely .

djpontrack · 3 Jul 2019

route101 said:
Thats what im doing , slowly but surely .

Same here. I’ve been doing it for years. I think it’s just the Forres deviation I’ve got to do.

krus_aragon · 3 Jul 2019

I once had a go at doing this as a desktop exercise, but just for Wales. It was a few years ago, before the hourly service to Aberystwyth, and the improved frequency at Fishguard. I was looking for a way to travel by train to or through each station, rather than alighting at each one.

I seem to recall that the Valley Lines required the best part of a day. I tried to time most of the West Wales branches overnight (using the night boat train to Fishguard and back) but couldn't quite shoe-horn everything into two days. That might be doable noe (or after TfW revamp their timetable in 2022).

route101 · 3 Jul 2019

djpontrack said:
Same here. I’ve been doing it for years. I think it’s just the Forres deviation I’ve got to do.

Your last new shack was Busby ? I used to stay there funnily enough .
What is the Forres deviation? Ive done the Aberdeen to Inverness back in 2010.

In Scotland i only have two bits to do! Maybe 3 or 4 if you count chords

djpontrack · 3 Jul 2019

route101 said:
Your last new shack was Busby ? I used to stay there funnily enough .
What is the Forres deviation? Ive done the Aberdeen to Inverness back in 2010.

In Scotland i only have two bits to do! Maybe 3 or 4 if you count chords

I’ve not updated my signature for ages mate, it’s about 8 months out of date.
Busby was ok, I went to a nice pub near the station.
During 2017, Forres station was closed and a new one opened on the new line that was built. It avoids a long curve, so it’s more direct.

Mountain Man · 7 Jul 2019

As a pure guess, I reckon it would take 4/5 weeks.

The issue is those stations with rare service.

You could probably do 90% of the network in 2 weeks, it's the final 10% that would be an issue

adrock1976 · 7 Jul 2019

Also, it would have to be built around the summer timetable for Falls of Cruachan and Dunrobin Castle being as no trains call there during the winter.

PeterY · 15 Jul 2019

route101 said:
Thats what im doing , slowly but surely .

I'm doing it slowly but surely and in no real logical order. I've done a fair whack of lines and cleared all the south of England . For me it's time and money.
My daughter is getting married in Portmerion, North Wales in Septenber. A great chance to clear Pwllheli and Aberystwyth.

route101 · 16 Jul 2019

PeterY said:
I'm doing it slowly but surely and in no real logical order. I've done a fair whack of lines and cleared all the south of England . For me it's time and money.
My daughter is getting married in Portmerion, North Wales in Septenber. A great chance to clear Pwllheli and Aberystwyth.

Im the opposite , i live in Scotland so northern half of Uk .

"Visit every mainland UK station" challenge (hypothetical)

flitwickbeds

Member

RailUK Forums

ArchieWoodbine

Member

flitwickbeds

Member

3rd rail land

Member

farci

Member

3rd rail land

Member

Andrew S

Member

route101

Established Member

djpontrack

Member

krus_aragon

Established Member

route101

Established Member

djpontrack

Member

Mountain Man

Member

adrock1976

Established Member

PeterY

Established Member

route101

Established Member