• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

The next station is...!

adtrainz

Member
Joined
4 Jun 2011
Messages
79
This game is about navigating around the rail network building up a long chain of stations, whilst stopping other players from reaching the end of any lines.

How to play
  1. A 'leg' starts when the winner of the previous leg posts a station. (This shouldn't be the station that ended the previous leg, or a terminal station with fewer than two routes out).
  2. Players now take turns to move to other stations, so that:
    • Each station can be reached by a direct train (see Notes) from the previous station posted, with no intermediate stops.
    • No station may be repeated on a leg.
  3. A leg ends when no more valid moves are possible. The player who made the last valid move wins the leg, and is awarded points based on a tally of the length of the leg. They then start the next leg, and so on.
From February 2023, the concept of scoring has been removed from the game. This follows a significant period of time during which we’ve fallen behind on keeping track of any form of leaderboard and catching up now would be almost impossible. We encourage all to continue gameplay as normal, just without the competitive element. Some references to scoring remain here for old times sake, and we keep the links to archived leaderboards below. Thank you - The Quizmasters

Notes
  • Only stations on the National Rail network are allowed
  • A direct train is a passenger service run by a National Rail TOC. The current timetable is used, and amendments for things like Engineering Work are ignored unless they are noted in the "Red List" of amendments in the next post, usually reserved for changes lasting longer than a month. You can ignore any pick up/set down only restrictions.
  • You cannot use any freight lines, but you can use any line that has a passenger service at least weekly (not every 3rd Monday etc).
  • Moves must continue from the station last posted - you can't "walk" between adjacent stations, e.g. from West Hampstead to West Hampstead Thameslink.
Example move:
If we are at East Grinstead, there are valid moves to Dormans, and also to Oxted. Only one train a day makes this latter move (the 2254 in the current timetable), so this move accrues 2 bonus points to the leg tally.
diagram.png
Invalid moves and legibility
The game depends heavily on the order of moves being correct. Occasionally invalid posts are made, for instance when lots of posts are made in quick succession. To avoid problems arising from this:
  • You may never edit a move, other than to strike it out using [s][/s] tags if it is invalid.
  • If you then need to make a new move, do so by posting again and not by editing.

By convention the full English names of stations are used - the name as given by National Rail Enquires is considered to be definitive. It is requested that moves are made using bold text.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

transportphoto

Established Member
Associate Staff
Quizmaster
Joined
21 Jan 2010
Messages
4,568
Cross Country / London Midland to University Birmingham :?:
 

Track Basher

Member
Joined
27 Nov 2010
Messages
238
Location
Highlands of Scotland
Could I just have slight clarification on the double back rule.

It is no double backs at all or no passing through the same station again that you arrive through. at the end of a line e.g. Penzance there is no issue. Consider these scanarios.

Two different examples:

Example 1:

If you select Neath then Swansea can you then select Gowerton even though there is a slight double back between Landore and Swansea and back.

Example 2:

Rugby is selected then the next choice is Milton Keynes then can you select Northampton as you double back through Wolverton?

Thoughts.....
 

adtrainz

Member
Joined
4 Jun 2011
Messages
79
Some answers...

Example 1:

If you select Neath then Swansea can you then select Gowerton even though there is a slight double back between Landore and Swansea and back.

I would consider this to be valid, so long as you do not return to the same station. It is more the stations used that I am concerned with, for that is how the points are awarded!

Example 2:

Rugby is selected then the next choice is Milton Keynes then can you select Northampton as you double back through Wolverton?

Thoughts.....

Yes, because the service from Rugby to MK did not stop at Wolverton.


@transportphoto

Sorry about that, I just didn't want to make a long winded post!

@ Class172

Yes, you are correct, we are therefore now at Wolverhampton.
 
Last edited:

Eagle

Established Member
Joined
20 Feb 2011
Messages
7,106
Location
Leamingrad / Blanfrancisco
No choice. Hednesford on the same train.

Being as New St's already gone, the only way out of this is all stops to Aston, then all stops to Lichfield :roll:
 
Last edited:

Eagle

Established Member
Joined
20 Feb 2011
Messages
7,106
Location
Leamingrad / Blanfrancisco
Ignoring the obvious being Bloxwich, we will go onwards to...


Walsall

Illegal move. There's no train that goes straight from Bloxwich North to Walsall; they all stop at Bloxwich in between. (There are quite a few nonstop between Cannock and Walsall, but that's an opportunity that's been tactically avoided...)
 

Class172

Established Member
Associate Staff
Quizmaster
Joined
20 Mar 2011
Messages
3,770
Location
West Country
Following on from Bloxwich North we are at Bloxwich, after the illegal move so therefore I shall continue to Walsall on a LM 323.
 

Xenophon PCDGS

Veteran Member
Joined
17 Apr 2011
Messages
32,266
Location
A semi-rural part of north-west England
Illegal move. There's no train that goes straight from Bloxwich North to Walsall; they all stop at Bloxwich in between. (There are quite a few nonstop between Cannock and Walsall, but that's an opportunity that's been tactically avoided...)

I cannot believe that I actually prefixed my wrong answer by saying "Ignoring the obvious being Bloxwich"....when this was a correct answer.... My apologies to all concerned.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
To Bescot Stadium by London Midland on the Chase Line.
 

Eagle

Established Member
Joined
20 Feb 2011
Messages
7,106
Location
Leamingrad / Blanfrancisco
Oh, for Wrexham and Shropshire to still be around...

Hamstead (on the one 350 a day that runs from Walsall to Liverpool, just to spice things up—departs Hamstead at 07.41).
 

Top