Hoping to bash a load of South London on saturday. oyster or paper?

[MikeWh]

so where is the right door? not familiar with hither green whatsoever! That said, i'll be amazed if i make it to Hither Green without missing a connection.... i will report back. looking forward to it. just set my alarm for 5am :roll:

The right door depends on which stock is used and which platform it's on. But ...

You are doing Grove Park to Hither Green twice, so get off the train from Knockholt at Grove Park, do the Bromley North Branch, then pass through Hither Green on the way to Lewisham.

 

[class303]

Hi all. Exhausting but fun day out! Got the tube at 05.43 at my local station and didn't get back till 23.15. Mammoth session.

1st part of schedule ran like clockwork. Walk from Epson downs to Tattenham Corner was ok except i got absolutely soaked, glad i did the walk on google earth beforehand as Epsom downs station is just at the end of a very long driveway! quiet a strange location.

Arrived at Purley at 12.14 as planned. Then all trains to Caterham were suspended due to obstruction on the line. 1st fail of the day. So went to Upper Warlingham ahead of schedule on the 12.40 from East Croydon. Was running slightly ahead of schedule for a couple of connections then i managed to miss the earlier Sutton to Herne Hill train. So half an hour's wait at Sutton and I was back on original schedule (minus Caterham branch) on the 14.38 Sutton to Herne Hill. Tight connection at Herne Hill was fine (indeed the 15.04 to Orpington left about 5 late). As Mike mentioned no need to make use the tight connection at Hither Green as i had messed up and was doubling back for no reason so got the 16.14 Knockhalt to Grove park and did the Bromley north branch ahead of schedule. Being early at this point made no difference as i still had to wait for the 17.15 Grove park to Lewisham. Then it was as planned up till St Marys Cray 19.21. At this point I noticed trains were again running to Caterham and there was no way i was coming all this way to leave that branch out. So St Marys cray - Bickford - Beckenham Junction - East Croydon (tram) and finally 20.13 East Croydon to Caterham. On way back to Vauxhall did the 22.15 Sutton to Wimbledon (via morden). Arriving Wimbledon 22.38 in time for the 22.44 to Vauxhall and final tube home.

Trains ran brilliantly considering it was a weekend. Didn't miss any connections due to late trains. Wasn't asked for a ticket on any of the 33 trains & 1 tram i caught. Southeastern must be losing a fortune in revenue, only Lewisham was gated and manned, the rest of their network was wide open and no sign of any RPOs , revenue blocks anywhere, crazy.

Was also surprised to see 73119 and 73207 pull into Tattenham Corner just as i arrived. Not sure what this was or if it is rare or not. Got pictures anyway.

Despite all this there's an annoying amount of the tfl national rail map I may have not covered, which are as follows....

hounslow to whitton side of triangle
balham to mitcham eastfields
balham to c palace
beckenham jnc branch
c palce to norwood jnc
tulse hill to peckham rye
peckham rye to lewisham
catford to nunhead
st john to ladywell (avoiding lewisham)
charlton to blackheath
bexleyheath to slade green
crayford to bexlewyheath

I'll get round to these one day! £5.90 very well spent, also picked up a free book at the Motspur park(i think) ticket office when purchasing the rip off BZ6 to Epsom return.

Adiós.
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Despite all this there's an annoying amount of the tfl national rail map I may have not covered, which are as follows....

hounslow to whitton side of triangle
balham to mitcham eastfields
balham to c palace
beckenham jnc branch
c palce to norwood jnc
tulse hill to peckham rye
peckham rye to lewisham
catford to nunhead
st john to ladywell (avoiding lewisham)
charlton to blackheath
bexleyheath to slade green
crayford to bexlewyheath

all these look easily doable except Bexleyheath to Crayford. Can't find any services that use that curve from Barnehurst to Crayford (perhaps fast trains only?). Also not quite sure if any trains run Ladywell to St johns avoiding Lewisham. Or Catford to New Cross avoiding Lewisham? I'm almost becoming obsessed finishing the map!

 

[MikeWh]

all these look easily doable except Bexleyheath to Crayford. Can't find any services that use that curve from Barnehurst to Crayford (perhaps fast trains only?). Also not quite sure if any trains run Ladywell to St johns avoiding Lewisham. Or Catford to New Cross avoiding Lewisham? I'm almost becoming obsessed finishing the map!

You need to remember that the three lines join in two different places. Leaving Dartford, first the Sidcup line departs to Crayford with a spur completing one triangle, then further up the Bexleyheath line departs to Barnehurst with a second spur completing the other triangle.

The Crayford spur is used by the Cannon-Street to Cannon Street rounders via Sidcup and Woolwich while the Barnehurst spur is used by the Cannon Street to Barnehurst via Woolwich services. If you really want to travel from Barnehurst to Crayford then there are a few trains each way in the evening peak, while the Barnehurst to Slade Green spur is also used in the peaks without the painful stop on the spur which affects the off-peak services.

Ladywell to St Johns is only used by fast Ladywell to London Bridge services because you can't physically get across between Ladywell and St Johns/New Cross after using it. Finally, Catford to New Cross doesn't exist. Catford Bridge is the station beyond Ladywell, but Catford links up to Nunhead where the link from Lewisham meets it. That is served by the Sevenoaks - Swanley - Bromley Sth - Peckham Rye - Blackfriars trains.

 

[class303]

You need to remember that the three lines join in two different places. Leaving Dartford, first the Sidcup line departs to Crayford with a spur completing one triangle, then further up the Bexleyheath line departs to Barnehurst with a second spur completing the other triangle.

The Crayford spur is used by the Cannon-Street to Cannon Street rounders via Sidcup and Woolwich while the Barnehurst spur is used by the Cannon Street to Barnehurst via Woolwich services. If you really want to travel from Barnehurst to Crayford then there are a few trains each way in the evening peak, while the Barnehurst to Slade Green spur is also used in the peaks without the painful stop on the spur which affects the off-peak services.

Ladywell to St Johns is only used by fast Ladywell to London Bridge services because you can't physically get across between Ladywell and St Johns/New Cross after using it. Finally, Catford to New Cross doesn't exist. Catford Bridge is the station beyond Ladywell, but Catford links up to Nunhead where the link from Lewisham meets it. That is served by the Sevenoaks - Swanley - Bromley Sth - Peckham Rye - Blackfriars trains.

Thanks. Have done the Crayford Spur before (ie Crayford to Slade Green), but never Crayford to Barnehurst. The xx.28 service from Ladywell to London Bridge seems to avoid Lewisham, thanks.

 

[ashworth]

1st part of schedule ran like clockwork. Walk from Epson downs to Tattenham Corner was ok except i got absolutely soaked, glad i did the walk on google earth beforehand as Epsom downs station is just at the end of a very long driveway! quiet a strange location.

As I said in my earlier post imagine trying to find Epsom Downs if walking from Tattenham Corner and you didn't know the area and hadn't looked at a map!

 

[IanD]

Can't find any services that use that curve from Barnehurst to Crayford (perhaps fast trains only?).

Did this in the summer. Services seem to go Slade Green to Crayford so to get the edge of the triangle from Barnehurst, I had to go to Dartford (actually went to Gravesend to cover that line too). Bought A BZ6 - Gravesend ticket but never had it checked anywhere, just went over the bridge at Gravesend and came back.

London Bridge - Slade Green via Barnehurst;
Slade Green - Lewisham via Crayford;
Lewisham - Gravesend via Barnehurst;
Gravesend - Crayford;
Crayford - London Bridge via Greenwich.
(This means I still have a gap Charlton-Blackheath!).

Trains from Slade Green-Barnehurst seem to wait for about 15 minutes on the curve that joins the 2.

 

[paddington]

Did this in the summer. Services seem to go Slade Green to Crayford so to get the edge of the triangle from Barnehurst, I had to go to Dartford (actually went to Gravesend to cover that line too). Bought A BZ6 - Gravesend ticket but never had it checked anywhere, just went over the bridge at Gravesend and came back.

London Bridge - Slade Green via Barnehurst;
Slade Green - Lewisham via Crayford;
Lewisham - Gravesend via Barnehurst;
Gravesend - Crayford;
Crayford - London Bridge via Greenwich.
(This means I still have a gap Charlton-Blackheath!).

Trains from Slade Green-Barnehurst seem to wait for about 15 minutes on the curve that joins the 2.

When I did this area it seemed like the first train to be cancelled when there are problems was always the one from Barnehurst to Crayford. I believe Victoria-Dartford(/Gravesend) and the regular looping ones will cover all tracks which is what I think I did (plus Crayford-Dartford to cover the bottom of that triangle)

I went to Gravesend in order to take the bus B, to link up with the X80 as part of covering all the roads...