Ivo
Established Member
It looks like no-one has written anything yet, so I guess I will...
...but as people who were present are aware, I am somewhat disillusioned at present so this won't exactly be my most upbeat report ever. And sorry in advance for the length of this message.
I arrived at Thorpe Bay ready for the 0938 to Fenchurch Street, due to arrive at ~1043. As it turned out, an incorrectly running Arriva Southend bus - first non-surprise of the day :roll: - almost made me miss this train, but the driver waited for me when I signalled even though she was ready to leave. Ultimately though it didn't matter - because the 0938 failed at Shoeburyness. And it took them 20 minutes to rectify the situation as decouple the failed unit, leaving the service as a 4-car instead of an 8-car. So I hadn't even left Southend yet - and things were already starting to go wrong. Not exactly a good omen :roll: (There was some amusement among my two Quiz Forum teammates after I told them that the station nicknamed "Twerp" had made me late!)
I finally got to Victoria just eight minutes before the start of the Challenge, where it was revealed that sonic2009 would be joining myself, gnolife and Robinson in following a route which we all had real confidence in, and also the first one that I have not plotted but still used. (Thank you to Robinson for creating our outstanding itinerary.)
1130 came, and we jollied over to Platform 2 for the 1137 to Bromley South, non-stop. This went OK, and it set the scene for the next while as we returned to Zone 1 at Elephant & Castle and then onwards to Herne Hill, and Beckenham Junction. We arrived at the latter 2½ down though - giving us just 90 seconds to get to the tram stop!
One short run later, and we were on the tram. There was some mutual disappoint that we didn't get a Variobahn, but it wasn't a big problem. We also saw another Challenger (we weren't sure who at the time - sorry! - but have since been advised that it was probably greatkingrat) on this tram. It was off at East Croydon ready for a stopper to New Cross Gate, and then an 11-minute connection to New Cross - for a painful 77-minute journey on a 465 via Barnehurst and then Greenwich (at the start of which the others taunted me for my famous dislike of 323s
). We needed something to amuse ourselvs on this wretched journey, so we started playing Name the Station, where I went first and then upset Sonic by calling his choice of Polesworth given only the clue of AC electrification - a perfect result and 15-pointer in game terms.
A few rounds later, we were stuck in the intolerably slow section between Barnehurst and Slade Green. Indeed, this section was so slow that I went as far as to avoid it when plotting a route, so I was surprised when Robinson told me he had planned to use it! We eventually reached, Slade Green, and then Erith, and then...
...and then nothing. We stopped literally 100 or so metres short of Belvedere, and that was that. It took us 35 minutes to get moving again, even though we were literally two minutes' walk away. It turns out that a fire apparently caused by vandalism had started just beyond the country end of the Belvedere platform - which we were mere seconds from reaching. In other words, our train was the first one to be affected. So that meant I had had two situations in which the train immediately before was unaffected by trouble - but not mine. And in the space of just 5½ hours. By this point I had been starting to feel somewhat fed up so this just made things worse. We came up with a Plan B, a Plan C, a Plan Z - but nothing. Even our Plan B would have cost us 17 points, and it was dependent on us getting to Waterloo by 1605 at the absolute latest which was not going to happen.
Finally, we started to move again - and before long, the train was full. We edged along this boring and slow line until we got to Charlton, where things were about to get worse, as the driver suddenly announced that the train we were on was going to divert via the Blackheath Tunnel on a non-stop journey to New Cross only. By this point we couldn't be bothered any more so we turned what was left into a coverage bash and stayed on, instead of having to wedge ourselves onto another stopper which would not have reached London Bridge (which we never visited in the end
hock
in time for Plan B to work.
We got off at New Cross and returned to New Cross Gate along the same route as before, with an outlet at the former providing some amusement when I asked for a can of Coca-Cola in French after realising that was their native language (
), and then stopped near the latter for something to eat. From there, we took the Overground to Surrey Quays in order to use the new alignment via Surrey Canal Road, and then onto Clapham Junction where we met Mojo et al, to whom we broke the news we had basicaly given up...
I can't even remember who won in the end. Our plan *was* good enough to take victory, as it was the only one to break the 100-point barrier, but because of what happened we stopped taking it seriously and ended up wih 60-something. The winning score was 99.
At this point, I made an announcement to some people: This may be my last Challenge. I just don't enjoy them as much as I used to, especially considering how often we end up with the highest-scoring plan and something goes wrong time and again; Liverpool in October was very much the exception, not the rule...
Will this hold true? I don't know, but I had been contemplating it even before this Challenge. I don't know when my next one will be, but it certainly won't be in the especially near future (sorry Devon/Cornwall guys
), and that's assuming there even if another one. And after the April/May I have had otherwise, my mood really isn't the best, and to see something go wrong on the way into and in London didn't exactly help. I came to the pessimistic that something wwould happen on the way home too...
Finally, Sonic, gnolife and I went off in search of a New Bus for London, which didn't take very long because one arrived at Victoria off a 38 just as we left the station! Sonic boldly asked the bus staiton controller if we could access the vehicle early, and she was happy to arrange as much so we were sat on it for the best part of ten minutes before anyone else was even allowed on! We unaimously agreed that we like the NBfL. (And Sonic jumped off before we stopped, in true Routemaster fashion - with Conductor blessing! 
)
Next it was onto the Victoria line to Euston, where we said our goodbyes and Sonic and gnolife boarded the LM 1846 to Crewe. I got on a 205 bus outside and headed east, via Liverpool Street and Stratford to West Ham for a c2c train home - confident it would go wrong...
...so imagine how I felt when, on this journey, I came down with my worst migraine for almost a year
So another failed Challenge, and not just the Challenge either in this case, and a reluctance to continue afterwards. Just another day to add to my growing list of Bad Days since April 3rd...
...but as people who were present are aware, I am somewhat disillusioned at present so this won't exactly be my most upbeat report ever. And sorry in advance for the length of this message.
I arrived at Thorpe Bay ready for the 0938 to Fenchurch Street, due to arrive at ~1043. As it turned out, an incorrectly running Arriva Southend bus - first non-surprise of the day :roll: - almost made me miss this train, but the driver waited for me when I signalled even though she was ready to leave. Ultimately though it didn't matter - because the 0938 failed at Shoeburyness. And it took them 20 minutes to rectify the situation as decouple the failed unit, leaving the service as a 4-car instead of an 8-car. So I hadn't even left Southend yet - and things were already starting to go wrong. Not exactly a good omen :roll: (There was some amusement among my two Quiz Forum teammates after I told them that the station nicknamed "Twerp" had made me late!)
I finally got to Victoria just eight minutes before the start of the Challenge, where it was revealed that sonic2009 would be joining myself, gnolife and Robinson in following a route which we all had real confidence in, and also the first one that I have not plotted but still used. (Thank you to Robinson for creating our outstanding itinerary.)
1130 came, and we jollied over to Platform 2 for the 1137 to Bromley South, non-stop. This went OK, and it set the scene for the next while as we returned to Zone 1 at Elephant & Castle and then onwards to Herne Hill, and Beckenham Junction. We arrived at the latter 2½ down though - giving us just 90 seconds to get to the tram stop!
One short run later, and we were on the tram. There was some mutual disappoint that we didn't get a Variobahn, but it wasn't a big problem. We also saw another Challenger (we weren't sure who at the time - sorry! - but have since been advised that it was probably greatkingrat) on this tram. It was off at East Croydon ready for a stopper to New Cross Gate, and then an 11-minute connection to New Cross - for a painful 77-minute journey on a 465 via Barnehurst and then Greenwich (at the start of which the others taunted me for my famous dislike of 323s
). We needed something to amuse ourselvs on this wretched journey, so we started playing Name the Station, where I went first and then upset Sonic by calling his choice of Polesworth given only the clue of AC electrification - a perfect result and 15-pointer in game terms.A few rounds later, we were stuck in the intolerably slow section between Barnehurst and Slade Green. Indeed, this section was so slow that I went as far as to avoid it when plotting a route, so I was surprised when Robinson told me he had planned to use it! We eventually reached, Slade Green, and then Erith, and then...
...and then nothing. We stopped literally 100 or so metres short of Belvedere, and that was that. It took us 35 minutes to get moving again, even though we were literally two minutes' walk away. It turns out that a fire apparently caused by vandalism had started just beyond the country end of the Belvedere platform - which we were mere seconds from reaching. In other words, our train was the first one to be affected. So that meant I had had two situations in which the train immediately before was unaffected by trouble - but not mine. And in the space of just 5½ hours. By this point I had been starting to feel somewhat fed up so this just made things worse. We came up with a Plan B, a Plan C, a Plan Z - but nothing. Even our Plan B would have cost us 17 points, and it was dependent on us getting to Waterloo by 1605 at the absolute latest which was not going to happen.
Finally, we started to move again - and before long, the train was full. We edged along this boring and slow line until we got to Charlton, where things were about to get worse, as the driver suddenly announced that the train we were on was going to divert via the Blackheath Tunnel on a non-stop journey to New Cross only. By this point we couldn't be bothered any more so we turned what was left into a coverage bash and stayed on, instead of having to wedge ourselves onto another stopper which would not have reached London Bridge (which we never visited in the end
hock in time for Plan B to work.We got off at New Cross and returned to New Cross Gate along the same route as before, with an outlet at the former providing some amusement when I asked for a can of Coca-Cola in French after realising that was their native language (
), and then stopped near the latter for something to eat. From there, we took the Overground to Surrey Quays in order to use the new alignment via Surrey Canal Road, and then onto Clapham Junction where we met Mojo et al, to whom we broke the news we had basicaly given up...I can't even remember who won in the end. Our plan *was* good enough to take victory, as it was the only one to break the 100-point barrier, but because of what happened we stopped taking it seriously and ended up wih 60-something. The winning score was 99.
At this point, I made an announcement to some people: This may be my last Challenge. I just don't enjoy them as much as I used to, especially considering how often we end up with the highest-scoring plan and something goes wrong time and again; Liverpool in October was very much the exception, not the rule...
Will this hold true? I don't know, but I had been contemplating it even before this Challenge. I don't know when my next one will be, but it certainly won't be in the especially near future (sorry Devon/Cornwall guys
), and that's assuming there even if another one. And after the April/May I have had otherwise, my mood really isn't the best, and to see something go wrong on the way into and in London didn't exactly help. I came to the pessimistic that something wwould happen on the way home too...Finally, Sonic, gnolife and I went off in search of a New Bus for London, which didn't take very long because one arrived at Victoria off a 38 just as we left the station! Sonic boldly asked the bus staiton controller if we could access the vehicle early, and she was happy to arrange as much so we were sat on it for the best part of ten minutes before anyone else was even allowed on!
We unaimously agreed that we like the NBfL. (And Sonic jumped off before we stopped, in true Routemaster fashion - with Conductor blessing! )Next it was onto the Victoria line to Euston, where we said our goodbyes and Sonic and gnolife boarded the LM 1846 to Crewe. I got on a 205 bus outside and headed east, via Liverpool Street and Stratford to West Ham for a c2c train home - confident it would go wrong...
...so imagine how I felt when, on this journey, I came down with my worst migraine for almost a year
So another failed Challenge, and not just the Challenge either in this case, and a reluctance to continue afterwards. Just another day to add to my growing list of Bad Days since April 3rd...
