6th Attempt - 18/11/15
Posted: 20 Nov 2015, 04:23
tl';dr Alex Kneller & Douglas Brion, 18/11/15, 19h 20m 48s
Once again I have attempted the FNC with another newcomer, this time my friend Doug, from the A Cappella group I'm part of.
We started rather unexpectedly at 5:12 in Chesham, as we didn't know that the Met line timetables had changed and that the first train was 3 minutes earlier, so already our schedule for the day was completely out the window. Unfortunately we waited about 20 minutes for a Watford train at Moor Park which meant arriving in North Harrow for the first walk of the day we were already 20 minutes down on our out-of-date schedule. We were handed breakfast off of the platform at North Acton by one of Doug's friends which provided light relief on the way to West Ruislip. Running straight onto a train at Ickenham meant we maintained pace, although waiting about 4 minutes for our next train to leave Uxbridge was quite frustrating. A string of good connections then left us at High Barnet waiting for a bus. It was a 307 that turned up first so we got on it, and when we got to Oakwood and then Cockfosters, as we left Cockfosters headed South again I realised we'd set a new personal record of that connection of around 23 minutes, which was nice. (Fast Show, anyone?) This unfortunately is where things start going wrong. Back in Zone 1 we narrowly miss a Westbound Met train at Moorgate, leaving us a 2 minute wait for a Circle Line which made our connection to the Bakerloo at Baker Street all the more troublesome, and we narrowly missed a Bakerloo line to Oxford Circus there too. To boot, the person who we had organised to meet and join us at Oxford Circus didn't show up, and then complained that we didn't give him enough specific detailed information (apparently Station, Platform, Location on the platform, where the trains go from said platform and what time we will be meeting him on said platform isn't enough) which meant we had no lunch. Because we actually skipped a train hoping he would show, and the next train being a Seven Sisters train, we missed an Overground train by just a couple of minutes, propogating our 15 minute deficit to a 30 minute one. This, coupled by a terrible run round the Hainault Loop and Epping, meant that we were very quickly 50 minutes behind schedule, where, on the District line trundling up to Upminster, I realised that we weren't going to make an Olympia train on our current plan, so we set to work brainstorming a new route, and after about half an hour, finally decided on the probably best option, 3 hours before we actually got to it. Thankfully we only waited about 2 minutes before we left Upminster on a c2c train which was a lovely break of comfort. As usual, the Jubilee Line completely packed out at Canary Wharf, which made getting off at Southwark interesting. Then we were finally met with our lunch... at about 6pm by 2 more of Doug's friends, who wished us well as we left them on the platform. An hour or so later we were met by another one of the members of our A Cappella group (which, as a shameless plug, you can find on Facebook, The Scopes, and YouTube, TheScopesICU. Our publicity officer would be so proud...) who gave us some more snacks and drinks. And then began the bodged route. We played it very conservative with Olympia, waiting there about 15 minutes, and were surprised when the supposed 19:58 departure left at 19:52, but we weren't complaining. Shortly after that we were joined by 2 more of Doug's friends (I could get used to Challenging with this guy, so many minions) who actually stayed with us until the end (amusing us with much banter and some pole dancing).
Then came possibly the best moment of the Challenge, at West Kensington, waiting for a Richmond train. As it pulls in, we customarily wave to the driver, and he does not wave, but gives us a double whistle-blow and a beaming smile. That really perked us up after, still about 50 minutes behind, had been a pretty disappointing day, but that driver really made our day. Coming back from Richmond we arrive at Turnham Green, where I realise, because it's past 22:30, we can get straight onto the Piccadilly Line. Excellent! So we get on a H123&5 train, intending to change and wait at Hatton Cross. We almost get to Osterley when I realise, after doing a 'sanity check' by scribbling out a fresh map... bollocks. We missed Chiswick Park. We get off the train at Osterley and panic and ponder whether to go to Heathrow and then come back or go back to Chiswick Park and then finish at Heathrow. I realised that we probably wouldn't make the last T4 train (which to my memory is quite early) so we decided to go for Heathrow first, which was good because the next train was a T4. Unfortunately we waited 10 minutes at 123, and another 6-7 minutes or so at T5, and then about 15 minutes at Acton Town for the last Eastbound District of the night, and finish in Chiswick Park at about half past midnight. Our District line terminated in Hammersmith, where we, after an embrace, parted ways onto different Night buses. Thanks to unanticipated timetable changes, unreliable helpers, and my own ignorance, what could have, would have and should have been a good day turned out to be a poor time of 19:20:48, but at least we completed, and another crazy crazy person has completed the Tube Challenge, so for me the day was worth it.
Once again I have attempted the FNC with another newcomer, this time my friend Doug, from the A Cappella group I'm part of.
We started rather unexpectedly at 5:12 in Chesham, as we didn't know that the Met line timetables had changed and that the first train was 3 minutes earlier, so already our schedule for the day was completely out the window. Unfortunately we waited about 20 minutes for a Watford train at Moor Park which meant arriving in North Harrow for the first walk of the day we were already 20 minutes down on our out-of-date schedule. We were handed breakfast off of the platform at North Acton by one of Doug's friends which provided light relief on the way to West Ruislip. Running straight onto a train at Ickenham meant we maintained pace, although waiting about 4 minutes for our next train to leave Uxbridge was quite frustrating. A string of good connections then left us at High Barnet waiting for a bus. It was a 307 that turned up first so we got on it, and when we got to Oakwood and then Cockfosters, as we left Cockfosters headed South again I realised we'd set a new personal record of that connection of around 23 minutes, which was nice. (Fast Show, anyone?) This unfortunately is where things start going wrong. Back in Zone 1 we narrowly miss a Westbound Met train at Moorgate, leaving us a 2 minute wait for a Circle Line which made our connection to the Bakerloo at Baker Street all the more troublesome, and we narrowly missed a Bakerloo line to Oxford Circus there too. To boot, the person who we had organised to meet and join us at Oxford Circus didn't show up, and then complained that we didn't give him enough specific detailed information (apparently Station, Platform, Location on the platform, where the trains go from said platform and what time we will be meeting him on said platform isn't enough) which meant we had no lunch. Because we actually skipped a train hoping he would show, and the next train being a Seven Sisters train, we missed an Overground train by just a couple of minutes, propogating our 15 minute deficit to a 30 minute one. This, coupled by a terrible run round the Hainault Loop and Epping, meant that we were very quickly 50 minutes behind schedule, where, on the District line trundling up to Upminster, I realised that we weren't going to make an Olympia train on our current plan, so we set to work brainstorming a new route, and after about half an hour, finally decided on the probably best option, 3 hours before we actually got to it. Thankfully we only waited about 2 minutes before we left Upminster on a c2c train which was a lovely break of comfort. As usual, the Jubilee Line completely packed out at Canary Wharf, which made getting off at Southwark interesting. Then we were finally met with our lunch... at about 6pm by 2 more of Doug's friends, who wished us well as we left them on the platform. An hour or so later we were met by another one of the members of our A Cappella group (which, as a shameless plug, you can find on Facebook, The Scopes, and YouTube, TheScopesICU. Our publicity officer would be so proud...) who gave us some more snacks and drinks. And then began the bodged route. We played it very conservative with Olympia, waiting there about 15 minutes, and were surprised when the supposed 19:58 departure left at 19:52, but we weren't complaining. Shortly after that we were joined by 2 more of Doug's friends (I could get used to Challenging with this guy, so many minions) who actually stayed with us until the end (amusing us with much banter and some pole dancing).
Then came possibly the best moment of the Challenge, at West Kensington, waiting for a Richmond train. As it pulls in, we customarily wave to the driver, and he does not wave, but gives us a double whistle-blow and a beaming smile. That really perked us up after, still about 50 minutes behind, had been a pretty disappointing day, but that driver really made our day. Coming back from Richmond we arrive at Turnham Green, where I realise, because it's past 22:30, we can get straight onto the Piccadilly Line. Excellent! So we get on a H123&5 train, intending to change and wait at Hatton Cross. We almost get to Osterley when I realise, after doing a 'sanity check' by scribbling out a fresh map... bollocks. We missed Chiswick Park. We get off the train at Osterley and panic and ponder whether to go to Heathrow and then come back or go back to Chiswick Park and then finish at Heathrow. I realised that we probably wouldn't make the last T4 train (which to my memory is quite early) so we decided to go for Heathrow first, which was good because the next train was a T4. Unfortunately we waited 10 minutes at 123, and another 6-7 minutes or so at T5, and then about 15 minutes at Acton Town for the last Eastbound District of the night, and finish in Chiswick Park at about half past midnight. Our District line terminated in Hammersmith, where we, after an embrace, parted ways onto different Night buses. Thanks to unanticipated timetable changes, unreliable helpers, and my own ignorance, what could have, would have and should have been a good day turned out to be a poor time of 19:20:48, but at least we completed, and another crazy crazy person has completed the Tube Challenge, so for me the day was worth it.