The Sleeper Train Challenge

[Peter Mugridge]

I am doing the Sleeper Train Challenge this week; all six destinations from London on consecutive nights.

This is a very ambitious thing and it has taken a year to plan, involving a team for five senior railway managers ( one each from FGW, FScR, EC, VT and "mission control" at ATOC / RDG ). Not counting liaision with the charities and my employers as well!

Amongst the planning constraints were the need to avoid the busy school holiday periods, any bank holidays and of course to check that there were no engineering works planned that might impact on the running of any of the required services. On top of that, we had to aim for the May - September period in order to have a reasonable chance of good weather, it had to avoid any of my busier weeks at work and also any week in which my line manager is away as I have to cover for her. We also had to ensure that "mission control" was not away during the attempt either.

Taking all those factors into account, this week was literally the only week during 2014 in which we could attempt this; such is the complexity of doing this for charity with all the background support required.

Here's the timetable ( copied and pasted from the planning document, so the formatting might be a bit off ):

Charity stunt timetable
23.50 Paddington Sun 14th Sept – Penzance 08.59 Mon 15th Sept
10.00 Penzance – Paddington 15.24 Mon 15th Sept
21.16 Euston Mon 15th Sept – Aberdeen 07.34 Tues 16th Sept
09.52 Aberdeen – Kings Cross 16.51 Tues 16th Sept
23.50 Euston Tues 16th Sept – Edinburgh 07.22 Weds 17th Sept
09.30 Edinburgh – Kings Cross 13.48* Weds 17th Sept
21.16 Euston Weds 17th Sept – Inverness 08.36 Thurs 18th Sept
09.41 Inverness – Edinburgh 13.23 Thurs 18th Sept
14.30 Edinburgh – Kings Cross 18.51** Thurs 18th Sept
23.50 Euston Thurs 18th Sept – Glasgow Central 07.18 Fri 19th Sept
10.40 Glasgow Central – Euston 15.16 Fri 19th Sept
21.16 Euston Fri 19th Sept – Fort William 09.55 Sat 20th Sept
OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED
11.32 Fort William – Glasgow Queen Street 15.30 Sat 20th Sept
16.40 Glasgow Central – Euston 21.25 Sat 20th Sept
*Any subsequent Kings Cross train up to the 14.30 ( 18.51 arrival ) would also be practical. Use of a train later than the 09.30 would allow for some PR to be carried out in Edinburgh.
**13.30 departure would be very tight; 14.00 departure is almost caught up by the 14.30 at London; 14.30 is therefore the better choice.


Yorkie has very kindly given me permission to post the donations links, which are for two different charities. As the MyDonate system does not allow multiple charities within one page, there are two pages hence two links. The top one is for the Railway Children, which many of you will be aware of, and the second one is for the Mary Hare Schools - a specialist educational establishment for deaf children; it is also my old school; I was a pupil there from 1978 to 1984.

The links are:

https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/petermugridge1

https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/petermugridge2

Feel free to circulate / tweet / whatever these links - the more people who are aware, the greater the chance of raising some serious funds.

I am unable to access the internet while I am travelling, but I will certainly be doing a report when I get back ( it might take me a few days to write it! ) and no doubt those on this forum with access to TOPS / TRUST / GEMINI etc will be able to at least update the thread in the meantime with how the trains above are running.

Right... I'm off in about 90 minutes from now - going to get something to eat in London then board the Night Riviera to start the challenge...

 

[ryan125hst]

The very best of luck Peter! I'll be checking up on your trains on Realtime Trains to see how it's going. I hope you achieve your objective.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Thank you; and I must go offline now as I need to double check I have everything and sort a couple of things out here before I leave.

 

[Kite159]

Good luck

 

[ryan125hst]

To make it a bit easier for members to track the trains that Peter will be using, I thought I'd add Realtime Trains links to each service mentioned in the timetable above. I hope that it is of use!

If you find any mistake, please let me know.

Charity stunt timetable
23.50 Paddington Sun 14th Sept – Penzance 08.59 Mon 15th Sept

10.00 Penzance – Paddington 15.24 Mon 15th Sept
21.16 Euston Mon 15th Sept – Aberdeen 07.34 Tues 16th Sept
(Edinburgh to Aberdeen leg link here)

09.52 Aberdeen – Kings Cross 16.51 Tues 16th Sept
23.50 Euston Tues 16th Sept – Edinburgh 07.22 Weds 17th Sept
(Carstairs to Edinburgh leg link here)

09.30 Edinburgh – Kings Cross 13.48 Weds 17th Sept
21.16 Euston Weds 17th Sept – Inverness 08.36 Thurs 18th Sept

09.41 Inverness – Edinburgh 13.23 Thurs 18th Sept
14.30 Edinburgh – Kings Cross 18.51 Thurs 18th Sept
23.50 Euston Thurs 18th Sept – Glasgow Central 07.18 Fri 19th Sept

10.40 Glasgow Central – Euston 15.16 Fri 19th Sept
21.16 Euston Fri 19th Sept – Fort William 09.55 Sat 20th Sept
(Edinburgh to Fort William leg link here)

OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED!
11.32 Fort William – Glasgow Queen Street 15.30 Sat 20th Sept
16.40 Glasgow Central – Euston 21.25 Sat 20th Sept

 

[Dave1954]

Good luck Peter look forward to your report to your epic week.. regards Dave1954

 

[Techniquest]

Wow that sounds like a right ol' mission, but if you pull it off that'll be quite the achievement!

Hope it all works out, and that you raise some decent dosh!

 

[455driver]

Wow that sounds like a right ol' mission, but if you pull it off that'll be quite the achievement!

Hope it all works out, and that you raise some decent dosh!

What catching a load of trains he is going to sleep on?
Yeah really hard that! :roll:

In all seriousness, good luck with the challenge it will be a bloomin long week, I will be lobbing a few Pesetas in the pot for you!

 

[Techniquest]

What catching a load of trains he is going to sleep on?
Yeah really hard that! :roll:

Depends, if he's on the seats all week it'll be challenging. I sure don't fancy doing the sleeper on the seats again, I mean there is a reason why my favourite name for the Scottish sleepers is 'Cally Insomny'!

 

[High Dyke]

To make it a bit easier for members to track the trains that Peter will be using, I thought I'd add Realtime Trains links to each service mentioned in the timetable above. I hope that it is of use!

If you find any mistake, please let me know.

Charity stunt timetable
23.50 Paddington Sun 14th Sept – Penzance 08.59 Mon 15th Sept

Currently 7 minutes up arriving at Exeter St David's.

 

[yorkie]

Updates from Peter:

16 September:

Made good use of long layover in London yesterday to get new haulages 377 702/5 and S7 21429/30 on first day in traffic.

Just missed a 66/7 at Berwick-upon-Tweed. Any ideas?

17 September:

Day 3 going well, just at York hoping for another superthrash run to KGX

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
18 September:

Ride has been very good totally refreshed each morning. Now on 14.30 so looking good. Any photos posted yet? Or donations starting?

Left Newcastle on time ( excuse the pun! )
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
19 September :
On board at GLC; looking very good now isn't it?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
On board the Fort Bill; dep in 20 mins - all it has to do is get there + I've done it! Long way back to EPS though!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
the Sleeper has landed.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Have made the connection across Glasgow.

 

[Blindtraveler]

thanks for the updates Yorkie, look forward to Peters own account when he returns!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I'm back, and will do my report as soon as I can.

Having a quick look at the RTT links above, there's a couple of things where the reporting doesn't quite seem to be 100%; arrival at Fort William was certainly on time or even a couple of minutes early and not the six minutes late shown, so I'm guessing it depends on manual reporting at that location?

The other is the Aberdeen to King's Cross - we were slightly more than 3 early up to Potter's Bar, more like 6 or 7 early and we were pretty much reduced to a crawl from there on in as we had caught up with a preceeding train. The eventual arrival time seems correct, however.

 

[Blindtraveler]

I actually missed that ABD>KGX train at Dundee the day you were on it, having forgottten the station entrance had moved. Ended up getting the bus in the end and stopped half way in Glenrothes for a beer! Look forward to report.↲

 

[455driver]

Donation made as promised.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Thank you 455Driver.

My trip report is nearly ready; meanwhile on Friday my local MP, Chris Grayling, met me - he has taken a close interest in the challenge and he has provided a quote as well:

“It's great to see Peter doing something so different and ingenious to raise money for charity and at the same time to highlight some of the best parts of our rail system. It's not too late for train buffs and others to chip in to the money he is raising and I hope they will.” Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Sorry - very long! Still needs a few more details added as well...


Trip Report: The Sleeper Train Challenge


Sunday 14th September:

Starting out from Epsom on the evening of the 14th, the biggest thought was whether or not all the connections would hold together across the week? While some days had very easy connections with lots of flexibility, there were two or three unavoidably tighter parts of the plan and it was critical that nothing was missed. After all, the whole point of the challenge is to travel to all six UK Sleeper train destinations from London on consecutive nights.

My first train was simply to position myself ahead of the challenge starting – the 19.54 from Epsom to Waterloo, from where I proceeded to Paddington via the Bakerloo Line. Yes, the District Line service direct from Wimbledon would have been easier and a few minutes faster but I had plenty of time and I felt like having a ride on the 1972 Stock.

After reaching Paddington I nipped out of the station to have a cheese omelette and chips at the conveniently located Garfunkel’s just at the top of the access ramp. After my meal I went back down to the station to wait in the lounge.

Boarding was slightly delayed due to an air conditioning fault in one of the Sleeper cars, 10616, which required the attention of some fitters who quickly established it was a blown fuse – easily fixed. Finally, at 23.30, the train was opened and I checked in with the attendant and went to my cabin to get my head down for the night. Our booked route tonight was one of the diversionary options – no surprise for a Sunday night – and we were to go via Westbury and Yeovil with a reversal at Exeter. We departed on time.

Monday 15th September:

After a right time arrival in Penzance at 08.59 I quickly exited the station in order to have a big breakfast at the excellent Sullivan’s Diner just a one minute walk away. My choice was beans, a hash brown, two eggs, two sausages and three rashers of bacon, which I was photographed in the process of consuming!

Being tight on time, it was straight back to the station to board the 10.00 to Paddington. Missing it would not have been critical as the next direct service at 14.00 would have got me to London on time, but it would have left me little time to get a full meal! There are also some other services in between the two which would involve a change of train at Plymouth.

In any case, I made the 10.00 as planned and once again we had a right time departure followed by an on time arrival at Paddington at 15.21. With quite a lot of time available to me, I spent an hour or so on the West London Line yielding me two new class 377/7 haulages plus the haulage on the newest S7 unit, 21429/30, on the District Line at West Brompton. This was, I am given to understand, the first day on which that particular S7 unit had been used in passenger service.

Following that, and mindful of the time, I went to Leicester square in order to have a medium rump steak with chip and peppercorn sauce at the Aberdeen Angus Steak House at the junction of Charing Cross Road and Cranbourne Street; as always at that place the steak was cooked to perfection.

Returning to Euston, I rested in the lounge for a while and then boarded the first of the Scottish services in the mission – the 21.15 to Aberdeen. Like the other services so far, this train pulled out of Euston bang on time and I settled down for the night.

Tuesday 16th September:

Tuesday morning dawned not bright and clear but grey and murky but this did not prevent an arrival at Aberdeen some 15 minutes early. With a bit over two hours until my booked 09.52 direct to King’s Cross, there was time to get a member of the station staff to do a photograph of me before another big breakfast, this time at the Station Hotel about a two minute walk from the main entrance.

On the way back to London, we experienced a particularly fast run below York but we were reduced to a crawl from Potter’s Bar onwards as we had caught up with another train. The fact that we still made an on time arrival goes to demonstrate just how busy the lines are these days; with a clear run through the schedule could easily have been 15 minutes less than it is – proof that capacity is indeed the critical aspect of planning at the moment.

Having a bit of time to spare, I had it in mind to head across London to Victoria to the Garfunkel’s there only to find it had closed and been replaced with a lesser outlet! So I tried the Weatherspoon’s nearby, only to find that as a small station branch it did not offer the full menu and the item I particular had in mind was not on the reduced menu! My next move was to the Sports Bar by the main station entrance where I settled for a sausage, egg and chips.

Following that it was back across London to Euston and the lounge to await my next target, the 23.50 to Edinburgh. Needless to say, it departed on time.

Wednesday 17th September:

On time at Edinburgh, no surprise there, then out of the station for a breakfast at the Carlton Hotel. Not for the first time I cursed the lack of a lift by the Scotsman Stairs! My breakfast today consisted of two eggs, two rashers of bacon, two sausages, a hash brown and some beans. Breakfast at the Carlton is always a pleasure after arriving on the Sleeper.
Back at Edinburgh Waverley after breakfast I had time to sign in for 40 minutes to do some photographs although again the weather was not co-operating! Nevertheless, I managed to get a few 170s and 334s off my photo hit list. Then it was time to board the 09.30 to King’s Cross… on time all the way.

This time I had taken advantage of a relatively long turnaround in London to book in an ear appointment at 15.00 as the place which deals with my implant and hearing aid is just a five minute walk down the road from King’s Cross.

After my appointment I jumped on a number 476 bus to get back to Euston and my choice of venue for a meal today was the Doric Arch pub just outside the station; a very interesting place – full of railwayana. Tonight I chose to have gammon, eggs, chips and peas after which it was back to the lounge ( where by now the staff were taking a close interest in the challenge ) and then on the 21.15 again, this time to Inverness. Once again the departure was right time.

Thursday 18th September:

A punctual arrival at Inverness gave me time to buy myself a nice big breakfast roll from the café on the station after which I had my photograph taken again by a member of station staff.

Today’s travel back to London was the second most critical part of the challenge; although a later connection was available given the distance it would not have been a good idea to miss the 09.41 to Edinburgh, so I made sure to be at the platform in good time and the train duly made a right time journey providing an easy connection at Edinburgh Waverley with the 14.30 to King’s Cross which itself ran to time all the way.

This time I simply walked to Euston and then had a starter of French onion soup followed by a rump steak and chips at the Café Rouge on the forecourt, after which I again rested in the lounge before catching the 23.50 to Glasgow.

Friday 19th September:

Being the second of the shorter Scottish routes today was a more relaxed one; like with Edinburgh two days earlier there were several trains which could get me back to London on time and I had chosen the 10.40.

This gave me time to not only have breakfast at the Central Hotel ( eggs, bacon, sausages etc etc ) but also to sign in for two hours of photography. This allowed me to comprehensively demolish my class 380 photo hit list with more than two thirds of the class captured in the time available. Ironically I have yet to get any 380s for haulage, but I considered it better to stay put this time, bearing in mind the reason I was in Glasgow in the first place.

Later, back in London after a 10 minute early arrival, I stuck to my other plan of eating in a different place every day by talking a short walk of about ten minutes down one of the side streets to the Café Midi where I had a meal of Penne Bolognese before returning to the lounge for the last time and preparing for the final part of the mission: the 21.15 to Fort William.

We had left this destination until last at the planning stages for a very simple reason – there is only one connection which would get me back to London the same day so this was the bit that was most likely to go wrong! With the objective being to travel to all the Sleeper destinations on consecutive nights it would not have mattered had I got stranded anywhere on the way back if it was the last destination, whereas had it been earlier in the trip a stranding would have wrecked the entire challenge.

Saturday 20th September:

Arrival in Fort William was right on time at 09.55 and the challenge had therefore been successfully completed. Having had a bit of breakfast on the train, I only required a bacon and egg roll from the station café ( having first observed the Jacobite steam service depart for Mallaig – must get my priorities right mustn’t I?  ) then all I had to do was wait from the 11.40 to Glasgow Queen Street.

This turned up on time and kept time all the way through the Highlands scenery reaching Queen Street at 15.30; a short walk to Central saw me there with plenty of time for my booked 16.40 back to London. As expected, this service got me to Euston without loss of time and I was able to quickly transfer to Waterloo via the Northern Line and just managed, by 30 seconds, to catch the 21.54 to Epsom.

My consequent arrival back at Epsom at 22.29 gave me a platform to platform, time from Fort William to Epsom of just 10 hours 49 minutes – an excellent duration, especially with two cross-city transfers involved, one of which was by walking.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Truly amazing stuff Peter, thanks for writing it, would love to try this myself sometime!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Thank you - and there is no reason why anyone with the time and money should not be able to try this for themselves - but do remember to verify the schedule after each timetable change!

 

[Clip]

Good read that Peter - seems you like your eggs with nearly everything

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I do tend to go for a bacon and eggs breakfast when I'm in hotels, or at least eating breakfast in them, yes!

 

[Dave1954]

Smashing report to read must have been a wonderful experience love to do something like that myself , if I did and could afford it I and have the time I would do the S/Bound sleepers as well and the return on the penzance/Paddington , there would be plenty of things to do during the days while waiting for the next night sleeper maybe a trip to the nearest seaside or line which you have never covered
Well Done Peter ..... regards Dave1954

 

[Gathursty]

Impressive read. I would have had to break up the journeys a bit as I do get a bit of cabin fever. Well done!

 

[Techniquest]

Fascinating read, although more detail on the experience of the sleeper would have been interesting.

Sounds like an amazing time and I'm beyond jealous!

 

[higthomas]

Sound like a great thing to do, wish I had the money to do such a thing, well jealous.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Fascinating read, although more detail on the experience of the sleeper would have been interesting.

Sounds like an amazing time and I'm beyond jealous!

I will be expanding the report when I get time, but do bear in mind that whenever I am on a Sleeper I go straight to the cabin and get my head down as soon as I can...

 

[Techniquest]

Fascinating read, although more detail on the experience of the sleeper would have been interesting.

Sounds like an amazing time and I'm beyond jealous!

I will be expanding the report when I get time, but do bear in mind that whenever I am on a Sleeper I go straight to the cabin and get my head down as soon as I can...

Fair enough, I usually do the sleepers on the seats so I soak up the atmosphere a lot and make plenty of observations of both on-board stuff and looking out of the window!

 

[trentside]

Really enjoyed reading the report Peter - even if it has made me hungry!

Congratulations for completing this, I'd imagine you were still pleased to get back to your own bed at the end of it though?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Apologies for the delay in further updating the thread - I still haven't finished editing my photos down to size from the 2.5Mb they come out of the camera in!

I have, however, had a few of them published in the local rag this week:

http://www.epsomguardian.co.uk/news...s_all_over_the_country_for_charity_challenge/

For those who can't get into links - there's nothing in text in this one that you haven't already read on here.

For those who can: Just scroll down the report to find the pictures.

As soon as I can I'll upload some pictures direct to the forum, plus more blurb about the trip itself.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Apologies for the delay - I still haven't quite finished sorting my pictures from the trip out, but I will post some very soon - promise.

The delay is mainly down to my having spent the last three months restoring last winter's water damage following the removal of the failed cavity wall insulation at around the time of my last post above; for some funny reason the wife thought the re-decorating was more important than editing the photographs... :roll: