Fantasy: Lottery win - go on, be outlandish!

[Trainlog]

I've tweaked "new build" (which contravenes OPs steer) to "conversions" (thus guaranteed to eat up massive funds!).

I foolishly missed Bittern's temporary guise as 2509 Silver Link (too busy doing various Rail Rovers at that time!), so - yes - I'd love to see an A4 back in that condition.

I have all four of Hornby's 80th anniversary "Silver" A4s but sadly I cannot jistify funds for their glorious Silver Jubilee carriages.

It would be nice to see Bittern return once again to the 'Silver link' guise even if its for one or two years. It would certainly pair well with a rake of teak coaches and would look excellent on a Severn Valley or North Yorkshire Moors railway gala.

As for the Silver link coaches, perhaps not yet. However, I could imagine in a couple of years, some secondhand might turn up cheap or could be reduced in a model shop after years of not shifting due to how expensive they are.

 

[birchesgreen]

I think my last idea was a bit too unambitious. If i had a load of dosh i'd like to fund the building of a replica Class 16. If the Class 22 project was still visable i would have funded that too and got them to build a second one for me (an off the shelf diesel engine would have been fine for my one, its not like i've ever heard a real one).

Another idea would be get a withdrawn Class 86 and turn it into a battery electric loco, for preserved line use only. Imagine a Class 86e heading up the Severn Valley.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I’d buy a large house in a quiet village with an excellent view of a railway, good scenery and a decent pub. I’d also have the best Totem collection ever and an Austin A30.

 

[RedControlled]

Preserve a shortened 373 set. Refit a third rail shoe. Repaint into the original E* livery. Conduct plenty of railtours for at least a few years. I'd assume that would drain the money pretty quickly.

As well as that I'd make donations to restoration projects like the 421, 455 (hopefully one survives into preservation), ect.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Another idea for my £56 mill, before half is taken in tax:

I'd pay to have every single Hitachi unit vinyl wrapped, with a holographic multicolour reflective design; and covered "Polar Express" style with LEDs.
That should make nocturnal travel quite a sight.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Another idea for my £56 mill, before half is taken in tax

In the UK there's no income tax on gambling winnings, so spend away!

I always say I'd buy 560,000,000 bags of Space Raiders. Sometimes I'm joking. Sometimes not.

After your railcard expires you could always take up permanent residence in Ireland.

Or the Isle of Man. There's no Inheritance Tax in the Isle of Man, which makes it a sensible place to move to with a lottery fortune.

I can't seem to locate the price of a BritRail pass, it just says not avaliable in your region.
£500 ($676) for three months is incredible.

The Britrail pass prices seem to vary slightly by retailer. I presume this is due to currency fluctuations as I can't see any other reason for it.

In case you're wondering, from ACP a one-month Britrail pass for an adult will cost you EUR 959 in first class. And there are no peak restrictions on a Britrail.

I use the shorter duration ones on a semi-regular basis; two consecutive days costs EUR 163 in first class. Given what LNER charge these days, it's sometimes been cheaper for me to buy that Britrail pass and only use it for one single journey.

For longer durations the Interrail Global makes more sense- EUR 1214 for an adult for three months in first class.

Unless I do buy 560,000,000 bags of Space Raiders, my first thing would be a holiday back to Australia at the pointy end oft the plane.

 

[DarloRich]

I would just cause bother because I could.

Paint trains the wrong colours, use really garish paint schemes, run mkiii with steamers, run tours but just delete the most attractive parts of the journey at random, lob a random 47 on wherever I fancied for no real reason, low charge to buy custom then annoy them with the above, ban drivers from "thrash and tonez" etc etc.

The fun I would have!

That and run my own "Royal Train" for travel from Fenny to MKC

 

[Sun Chariot]

I would just cause bother because I could.

That's a lot of pulling the emergency comm cord and paying the fine for doing so.

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That and run my own "Royal Train" for travel from Fenny to MKC

You could park it across the flat junction south of Bletchley station - and then rest easy, knowing you can cover the cost when NR comes a-knocking.

 

[DarloRich]

That's a lot of pulling the emergency comm cord and paying the fine for doing so.

I forgot to add: buy some really popular locos then lock them away in a shed and not let them out for the great unwashed to enjoy

 

[Sun Chariot]

I forgot to add: buy some really popular locos then lock them away in a shed and not let them out for the great unwashed to enjoy

<Cough> class 701 and 810 <Cough>

 

[Ken H]

I forgot to add: buy some really popular locos then lock them away in a shed and not let them out for the great unwashed to enjoy

Thats not a bad idea. Put some stock thats due for scrap in dry storage to resurect later when they become fashionable again. Imaine a cl 101 dmu thats been sat in a shed since withdrawal. Bit of heating to keep the damp out maybe?

 

[DarloRich]

Thats not a bad idea. Put some stock thats due for scrap in dry storage to resurect later when they become fashionable again. Imaine a cl 101 dmu thats been sat in a shed since withdrawal. Bit of heating to keep the damp out maybe?

I meant Flying Scotsman or some such rather than a grotty DMU

Although you could easily do something altruistic if you wanted to however I would be cautious about some groups taking the mickey.

 

[GingerSte]

I imagine I could get a class 91, a DVT and a few first class carriages (including a buffet car) fairly cheap quite soon. Let's see what acceleration we can get with three coaches instead of nine! Might also get a diesel or battery loco for when I'm heading from Yorkshire to Birmingham, for a few beers with the old colleagues.

If there's any change, I'd see about getting a lifetime pass for the Eurostar. Just turn up and go when I feel like it. (Premier class, obviously!)

 

[MattRat]

Or for slightly less than £1000, right now you could do that with a Hornby live steam A4 and a coronation coach set .

But to be fair, I would like to see an A4 back in the Silver link guise, even for a year or so on the mainline.

This now makes me wonder how much model railway stuff you could get with the money, minus the space you'd have to buy to store it all

 

[43096]

I forgot to add: buy some really popular locos then lock them away in a shed and not let them out for the great unwashed to enjoy

That's an idea. Buy all the Deltics and scrap them.

 

[DarloRich]

That's an idea. Buy all the Deltics and scrap them.

lets not get carried away!

I would buy an HST set for my own personal football travel. That should take it to some odd places!

 

[birchesgreen]

That's an idea. Buy all the Deltics and scrap them.

Hate crime, you have been reported to the authorities. I hope you like bread and water buddy.

 

[Loadhaul60059]

I'd do three things:

1) I'd ring up DB and find out how much they want for 60059. Then I'd get it restored to a main line standard, repaint it in Loadhaul livery and give it back it's 'Swinden Dalesman' nameplates. I'd make it available for spot hire purposes, and I'd also allow it to attend for free at any preserved railway diesel galas up and down the country. No idea how much this would cost in reality!

2) My Dad grew up next to the Somerset & Dorset railway and has been a member of the S&DJR Trust for years, so I would help them fund the boiler work and restoration on their 7F.

3) With my Dad being from Dorset I have many happy memories of trips on the Swanage Railway. I would provide them with ongoing support to help with running costs.

 

[trainmania100]

Id get the Dartmoor railway back up and running.
Although I've had more success with premium bonds lately than any lottery game. Still, I've got a ticket for Saturday, who knows.

 

[43096]

Hate crime, you have been reported to the authorities. I hope you like bread and water buddy.

Ah the Deltic Taliban are out, I see!

 

[rf_ioliver]

Kit out a 2 or 3 car DMU as a luxury train and live in it (while touring whereever I feel like)

 

[Trainlog]

This now makes me wonder how much model railway stuff you could get with the money, minus the space you'd have to buy to store it all

For smaller scales, certainly enough to build a UK equivalent of Minatur Wunderland.

For larger scales, A live steam mainline is definetly achievable. A 15inch gauge mainline? A narrow gauge railway?

Standard gauge could also be done, but buying a loco and keeping it on a local heritage railway would undoubtedly be better in making sure the rest of the money does not drain quickly.

 

[sad1e]

The latest lottery win has been over £56,000,000 - a rather tidy sum. If you won it, what railway linked stuff would you do? The only proviso is you can't reopen lines and can only use the pool of stock at the present time.

Get the 501 out of Mod Bicester, into a new heritage railway home and restored to a state where it can be loco hauled or maybe even brought up to full mainline standand .

I would also personally want to build a 151 , I'm personally quite sad they were all scrapped and would put a considerable sum towards getting another one built ( if I had the money to)

 

[Krokodil]

I'd buy a country house with land and build an estate railway.

 

[Trainlog]

Preserve a shortened 373 set. Refit a third rail shoe. Repaint into the original E* livery. Conduct plenty of railtours for at least a few years. I'd assume that would drain the money pretty quickly.

I'm surprised there aren't any current plans to do something like this with a Class 373. Could certainly see it doing a Kent circular via Canterbury West and retracing the old Kent route before 2007.

Would certainly be another Electric alternative tour like the Brighton Pullman will be in the case of summer heatwaves and steam bans in Kent.

 

[Halifaxlad]

I would bring the disused platform at Halifax back into use. I would include an additional turnout connected to one of the disused sidings through Eureka, hire a L&Y loco and a load of L&Y coaches and have a big fun day with the Mayor officially opening the platform.

 

[Sun Chariot]

I'd construct a second railway up Snowdon. Built to 597mm gauge, rather than the existing line's 800mm rack and pinion line. Engineered with superelevated track and prefabricated concrete viaducts, to smooth out the route.
Then I'd spot hire two of the WHR's Beyer Garrett locos and I would provide brave passengers with the ultimate mountain climbing motive power in the UK.

 

[Topological]

I would bring the disused platform at Halifax back into use. I would include an additional turnout connected to one of the disused sidings through Eureka, hire a L&Y loco and a load of L&Y coaches and have a big fun day with the Mayor officially opening the platform.

What platform number would it have? I would be tempted to use something like "T" so that people would forever ask why the numbers at Halifax were not consistent. Could not use X because they would think the Halfiax Building Society paid for it

I'd construct a second railway up Snowdon. Built to 597mm gauge, rather than the existing line's 800mm rack and pinion line. Engineered with superelevated track and prefabricated concrete viaducts, to smooth out the route.
Then I'd spot hire two of the WHR's Beyer Garrett locos and I would provide brave passengers with the ultimate mountain climbing motive power in the UK.

I was expecting to see the AI artists impression that would be included in the planning application.

Also are you calling it Snowdon to please the Eryri planning board?

 

[Sun Chariot]

I was expecting to see the AI artists impression that would be included in the planning application.

I already have the draft descriptive info written! I just need Gemini's measly daily quota (15) to reset this evening. I have another image I want to generate - a more sensible one - too.

Also are you calling it Snowdon to please the Eryri planning board?

When I climbed up the Pig Trail and down the railway line, in abysmal weather in 1998, Snowdon was yet to be Yr Wyddfa (which, when I try pronouncing it, sounds more like a gungey sneeze).

 

[Topological]

I already have the draft descriptive info written! I just need Gemini's measly daily quota (15) to reset this evening. I have another image I want to generate, a more sensible one, too.

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When I climbed up the Pig Trail and down the railway line, in abysmal weather in 1998, Snowdon was yet to be Yr Wyddfa (which, when I try pronouncing it, sounds more like a gungey sneeze).

Good point. I am confusing the national park with the mountain. I will always think of it as Snowdon in Snowdonia, same as the park down here is the Brecon Beacons.