What would you do if you had a billion pounds?

[Harry Douthwaite]

Ok, I've decided to post a new little chit-chat topic about what you'd fancy doing with one billion pounds.
Here's what I would do:

1. Buy the whole trackbed of the Buntingford Branch Line from St. Margarets Junction to Braughing, and propose a new trackbed from Braughing to Buntingford. Lay the track, build the stations, and prepare the signalling equipment.
2. Electrify it's whole length with 25kv AC Overhead.
3. Have two new terminus platforms at Broxbourne for trains from Buntingford.
4. Buy two Class 313s from London Overground/First Capital Connect and two Class 317s from One Railway.
5. Have Class 306 017 based on the railway.
6. Donate Two Million Pounds to the Mid Norfolk Railway for their project to Fakenham.

 

[TheSlash]

I'd buy a few Members of Parliament, give them my polictical agenda {abolish various road traffic laws, down size the Royal family etc} and then pay them to promote it.
I'd get into the preservation motor racing game. {Goodwood Revival}
After careful thought, i'd give a few million to a few preservation railways.
I'd equip myself with all the essentials; Chauffeur driven fast car, Helicopter, Private jet and Yacht
I'd see one or two of the family alright for cash, plus a few mates.
I'd pay Paul1609 to be General Manager of the Kent and East Sussex Railway
and the coppers change i would put in my bottle that collects my coppers to be saved for a rainy day

 

[68]

I'd put it in the bank for a few months and use the interest to buy things that I needed, then when I am old enough I would having driving lessons and I would buy the car I want VW Golf (New one!!!) then I may buy a few things that I needed, give some of it away. I would also pay for my brother to go to a private school.

 

[JoshW1992]

Well, I'd buy a new house, big enough for a narrow gauge railway in the garden. I'd also buy a few locos.

And then I'd do what I usually do, and waste the last few million on coke and cakes.

 

[TheSlash]

I'd put it in the bank for a few months and use the interest to buy things that I needed, then when I am old enough I would having driving lessons and I would buy the car I want VW Golf (New one!!!) then I may buy a few things that I needed, give some of it away. I would also pay for my brother to go to a private school.

All i will say is that when money is no object, there are other options than a VW Golf. :roll:

 

[Beaker]

Invest it wisely.

 

[Bayum]

Invest it, and live off the interest!!

 

[me123]

£1,000,000,000 hock:

OK, with all that money I'd say at least a hundred million needs to go to charity, perhaps more.

I'd say CHAS, St. Andrew's Hospice and CHSS are all high on my list. Oh, and Cancer Research and Alzheimers Research.

I also think a few consecutive ALRs are in order! And Michelin level dining. Maybe foster a few abandoned cats. A few railways might get a bit of money, too.

Perhaps the best use of the money, once I've splashed out a little, would be to start a "trust" to give money, seeing as how I want to give money to charity and the railways.

 

[D306]

well, if i had a billion pounds, I'd get brand a new class 40 made with it, give some to charity, give some to preserved railways ect...

 

[djw1981]

Is it a US billion then? i.e. one thousand million? It's peanuts......You couldn't even pay all of NXEC's premium payments with that.....:evil

 

[Ilove165's]

1) Buy a fleet of Aston Martins, Lamborghinis,Range Rovers etc.
2) Buy a Luxury Jet (Gulfstreams are good, but just too common so I'll have a Concorde thanks....)
3) Donate some to CPRAA for the project to Princess Risbrough
4) A house with a big enough garden for a scale version of Notwork Fail....

Sam

 

[me123]

Is it a US billion then? i.e. one thousand million?

I'd assume so, seeing as the "correct British" billion isn't even adopted in schools anymore

 

[laseandre]

How much would that be then?

 

[Crompton Karl]

I'd buy this site and get rid of the irritating adverts at the top of the page below the forum banner!

Karl

 

[Pumbaa]

Invest in precious metals, Gold and Silver in particular, then set up my own Coltan mine in Africa and reap the rewards...

 

[Phoenix]

Well obviously I would puyt into a decent bank with a high rate of interest (the kind given to you) so I could live off that and obiously distribute the money between various banks.
Hire a finacial advisor.
By myself a loco (a class 86 for static display)
by a massive house in a nice rural area.
Create a outdoor narrow gauge railway and host annual open days.
Make a massive 00 gauge railway.
By a semi decent sports car.
by a jag.
go on holiday traveling the worlds rail network.

 

[D306]

here's another oen that i didn't think of earlier

buy back all the 87s from bulgaria and make them all mainline worthy

 

[Broken Viking]

Hail All!
I admit that I'd have some problems trying to decide exactly what to spend the money on, as it's surprisingly hard to gauge how far one billion Pounds (£1,000,000,000) would actually go - But here's a few ideas that I'd like to achieve with such an amount... 8)

• Put about £25,000,000 away as savings to provide an automatic, continual income through interest,
• Buy a house suitable for playing loud Metal and practicing drums in (A three bed detached would do) with enough grounds space to safely accommodate a few 30m long coaches and a decent sized workshop,
• Fund a huge multi-point world tour for the Immortal BAL-SAGOTH!
• Re-form the reseach and development arm of British Rail at Old Dalby for - Amongst other things - Revival and true completion of the APT project,
• Investigate the possibility of buying and taking control of the Virgin West Coast franchise,
• Fund an order for 75 complete APT-P(HS/D) sets to suppliment and eventually replace the existing Pendolino and Voyager fleets,
• Donate some funding towards a complete overhaul and electrification of the WCML between Euston and Aberdeen (Via Edinburgh),
• Make some form of contribution to a group of charities (In my case, mainly cancer research and child protection organisations)

In addition to the above, there are also some possibles that would be bought about IF sufficient funds to do so were left over from the above items:

• Investigate the possibility of buying and taking control of the NatEx East Coast franchise,
• Investigate and become a founding member of a trans-Atlantic Transrapid link between Aberdeen/Sterling and New York (Via Rekjavik and Newfoundland),
• Investigate and become a founding member of a new XHSR trans-American line running from San Francisco to New York,
• Investigate and become a founding member of a new XHSR trans-continental line running from Manchester to Tokyo and Hong Kong via Bruxelles, Berlin, Warsawa, Moskva and the Urals. 8)

I'd buy this site and get rid of the irritating adverts at the top of the page below the forum banner!

If the advertisements bother ye that much, ye don't need a billion to sort that issue out!
Just have a chat with the site Admins, ask them how much revenue they make out of those advertising banners per average month, and make them a better offer! 8)

I'm not keen on adverts either, but I'm also a bit of a pauper...So insted of buying out the advertisers or site owners, I just use the NoScript add-on and a free content filter to prevent those adverts from loading up in my browser in the first place!

Farewell...
>> Death <<

 

[5872]

I'd Pay for the Bluebell extensions, the left overs I'd save until I would need the money, IIRC its a recession now, added with inflation.

 

[Mintona]

I would go to Pizza Hut everyday. Though I do that most days anyway.

But I would get a mortgage and my first home, and buy an R8.

 

[djw1981]

How much would that be then?

A British Billion was 1 million million - i.e. 1,000,000,000,000

 

[Gizmogle]

Just shove most of it in the bank and live off the interest.

And probably buy some games consoles and fancy gadgets such as phones and MP3 players.

 

[Ben]

If I was in a good job already... Keep quiet about it & stick it in an offshore bank for a couple of years but start enjoying it.

If I was a pauper... Enjoy it.

 

[christopher]

Buy the Romford - Upminster Line and a 321 and a 315

 

[Darandio]

Start a new open access operator. Dont know where from yet though, haven't thought that far. Would imagine it would involve the North East though.
Oh, and re-open Ferryhill Station

 

[laseandre]

How about Sleepers from Inverness to Bristol, via Newcastle?

 

[Darandio]

How about Sleepers from Inverness to Bristol, via Newcastle?

That wouldn't be such a bad idea for my Open Access platform, especially since money would be no object at first. Paths should be ok too but I cannot see the DFT being too keen, although then again.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

How about Sleepers from Inverness to Bristol, via Newcastle?

I'm sure they're there already! All the way in fact, just under the rails

 

[laseandre]

Calling at all shacks to Stirling, Edinburgh Waverley, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Newcastle, York, Sheffield, Derby, BNS, and all shacks to Bristol TM (minus Parkway), maybe?

EDIT: Dave, so funny I forgot to laugh.

 

[Half Pint 56120]

Buy a mass of 56s
Start my own preserved line

That'd be about it