Bill Blogs: TRIP OUT ON THE TUBE

Bill's Tube Challenge

I had originally thought I'd do this 3 years ago, to commemorate 150 years of the London Underground. I never found the time, at the time, but now I have (the time) to do it !

Intro: The Plan

To visit the 'End of the Line' places I've always seen, but never been ! While in the process passing through every station on the Underground system: (all 270, some obviously more than once).
We've all seen the destinations Upminster > Hainault > Cockfosters > Uxbridge > Amersham - but unless you live near these 'End of the Line' stations you may never have visited.
Wimbledon and Morden are my neck of the woods, while Epping certainly isn't. The idea is to get off the train have a quick look around, take a picture as evidence. It's the 'End of the Line' but is it the be-all and end-all ? Enough quoting Shakespeare: "I'm here, but should I have come?"

This is not your traditional 'do it in a day' Tube Challenge, more a leisurely version to seek out the outer limits of the London Underground. Armed only with the modern day equivalent of a 'Red Rover' (an Oyster Freedom Pass), Harry Beck's tube map and a packed lunch.
I've vaguely estimated how long this might take me though not the chances that tube tedium sets in and I run out of steam quicker than the old Metropolitan District Railway trains.
I've done a trip planner but I may spend more time at places and making connections, so will suck it and see. This will tell me how realistic my estimates and as I want to see these 'End of the Line' places in daylight, whether my spreading the travel over 4 days is about right.

In theory this should not cost me a penny(*see brown panel at very bottom). Which'll be something!
I'll also try to keep a track of time and see how my leisurely, cool calm but inquisitive tourist approach adds up along side the 'Tube Challenge' record of 15hrs 45 mins?

I wrote the above introduction before I'd started. What follows is the actual day-to-day :

Day One

I start at Wimbledon station (my 'home' town. With the plan being to finish up at the very end in my other 'home' town of Morden).
Departing at 9.54 on a District Line Upminster train I arrive 41 stops later at 11.23. Not to much to see in Upminster and by 12.12 I'm back at Barking and changing to the Hammersmith & City Line. It's underground mostly through London until Paddington, arriving at Hammersmith just after 1.30pm.
Richmond on the branch of the District Line is next before returning to Turnham Green and on to Action Town to switch to the Piccadilly Line. Uxbridge is my final stop at 15.20. I take a good look around and as the sun sets I take the train back to Ickenham and walk 15 minutes to West Ruislip for the Central Line back into town and Notting Hill Gate.
I decide, though it's dark, to tick off the Edgware Road branch and return to High Street Kensington to walk to Olympia. Almost 6pm - completes 8 hrs of travel.

Day Two

I feel on reflection that yesterday was too long a day. I revaluate my time and decide rather than cram so much in I'll take an extra day.
It's another cold day as I get myself to Brixton on the Victoria Line. 10am, Brixton is busy and interesting and I walk down Electric Avenue. The Victoria Line then takes me North under London and out again to Walthamstow Central, it's underground all the way. A short walk round before returning to King's Cross by 11.52 and the amusement of going round on the Circle line. Which these days is not a circle as I must change at Edgware Road to complete the round trip.
Finally getting off at Moorgate, I walk to Bank to take the 3 minute journey on the Waterloo & City Line to Waterloo station. It's not even 2 o'clock and I'm done. Only 4 hrs of travel today but I've done what I hoped to and tomorrow will now be less hurried.

Day Three

The day starts slowly, it's pouring with rain and grey skies up above.
I pick up the final District line section to Ealing Broadway at 9.55. Take a few photos and then sit down for the Central Line journey across London and out to Essex and the curious tale of the Hainault loop. I arrive at Woodford were my train terminates at midday. Unsure where I'm going I miss a train to Epping and have to wait 11 minutes, eventually getting there at 12.27. Uphill walk to the town in the miserable weather isn't worth the effort, but I don't know that until I've done it.
Within half an hour I'm travelling back down the Central Line to Stratford and catch the Jubilee Line at 13.30. It's a line of two halves. The brand new modern east end and the ageing west section that was once the old Bakerloo Line. Arrive Stanmore at 14.26.
I walk 35 minutes to Edgware to save repeating stations and take the Northern Line via Charing Cross to Kennington. At 15.46 I'm finish for the day. A much more manageable under six-hour day.

Day Four

Today is the unknown quantity. There's lots of changes of trains and no knowing how long this may take but the sun is out which is good.
I make my way to Elephant & Castle and the Bakerloo Line. No trains are going the distance, only to Queen's Park, so I change at Baker Street for a through train going to Harrow & Wealdstone and arrive at 10.30.
I plan to walk to North Harrow on the Metropolitan Line but get hopelessly lost and find myself nearer West Harrow (which I'd intended to include later in the day). It suits to do it now and I take a train to Harrow-on-the-Hill to connect to the stations further west on the Metropolitan.
Fairly confusing with trains going so many places my preferred destination of Watford arrives and by 11.42 I'm out there walking around.
I then need to go back to Moor Park for the other branches of the Metropolitan Line and catch a train to Chesham. There's a bit of a wait and I finally get to Chesham at 12.45. The station's not much but the town is lovely and the scenery, all Chiltern Hills and valleys is beautiful.
Rather than backtrack again I'd decided to walk to Amersham. It proves a brilliant idea and in the sunshine and autumn colours it's a great walk, if uphill a lot of the way.
Amersham is the highest and most westerly point on the London Underground these days. I depart at 13.45 and get back into London at Aldgate just before 3pm.
A great day, it's taken me 5 hrs and 15 mins - with just the final two lines to complete tomorrow.

Day Five

I'd been counting stations in my sleep. Today's the final leg (or branch).
Getting myself out to the western end of the Piccadilly Line without going all the way there and back again, means I take an overground train to Hounslow and walked a bit.
As you engage in some back and forth messing about at Heathrow I need to go via Terminal 4 before starting out from Heathrow Terminal 5. It's 11 o'clock before we pull out on a Cockfosters Train.
Not as many stops as Day One to Upminster it is the longest single journey without change: as 90 minutes later we eventually get to Cockfosters.
The walk I set myself to save time going backwards today was debatable at best. But with a combination of hilly hiking and a local bus it was less than an hour from Cockfosters to High Barnet.
The Northern Line train departs 13.21. At Finchley Central I have to get off to 'do' the Mill Hill East spur. An oddity of this branch is that they use the same train to go up and down this short section, as I have to change once again back at Finchley Central on my return.
Finally at 13.49 I'm away on a Morden via Bank train, as we desend into the tube's longest tunnel south of East Finchley. It always feels so long. But it's far from my longest journey and we reach Morden at 14.46. I calculate that's about an hour five mins from Barnet.
A final 4 hrs 16 mins travel time today - a total over the five days of 27 hrs and 15 mins - and 270# stations later! To 28 End of the Line stations!

NB: 270# - to explain this total, there are really 268 different stations (Hammersmith & Edgware Road) are counted as two stops on the system.

The End of

Remarkably I achieved all this without any delays due to faulty trains, line closures, cancellations, signal failure, leaves on the track or any industrial action. It all went very smoothly.

Conclusions to the 'End of the Line' question "should I have come" ?
Certainly Chesham and Amersham are very nice. Uxbridge is worth a second visit and Aldgate puts in the heart of the City of London. But generally the final destinations were not all that.
What was interesting was comparing a 1960s tube map to the present day. The Metropolitan, Bakerloo and Central lines all extended beyond their final stops today. The Northern and Piccadilly both had spur branches that now don't exist.
More Tube trivia? Click here

Enough said, I'll end with a few photos (from the many I took) and if having read this you think me a tad mad or a bit of nerd - I'll reply:
"Not so much an 'anorak' as a fluorescent Vietnamese North Face Gore-tex jacket. You'll not sum me up in one word ! You labellers you."