The idea of a tie–break question is that no one should know the exact answer; teams should have to come up with an answer that's as close to the correct figure as possible. But the question should be one such that people have some idea as to approximately what ball–park the answer might be in; it should not be a complete guess.
It's a bit like comparing a penalty shoot–out to drawing lots.
In recent years, some tie–break questions seem to have been getting more and more obscure, and less and less guessable. This particular question could possibly be described as taking that trend to its logical conclusion.
How many people, I wonder, had any idea as to how many children received gifts from Santa Claus on the Churnet Valley Railway last Christmas? For all I know, it could have been 100 or it could have been 10,000. And I'd be surprised if anyone else, apart from the question setter, had much more idea.
The idea of a tie–break question is often characterised as 'nearest the bull'. With questions like these, you're throwing with your eyes closed.
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