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GCR NRM (almost) £10 million lottery win

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by Martin Perry, May 20, 2015.

  1. Martin Perry

    Martin Perry Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator Friend

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    From the BBC;
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-32797396
    Congratulations :)
     
  2. ilvaporista

    ilvaporista Part of the furniture

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  3. Raimondo

    Raimondo New Member

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    Corbs and savagethegoat like this.
  4. GWR Man.

    GWR Man. Well-Known Member

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    So they have awarded just under £500,000 so far to complete the rest of the application, and then they will have the chance of the rest of the money if they get the final nod then. So not home and dry yet as it looks like on the BBC site, but the GCR site is honest over this. Good luck for the last part.
     
  5. Spamcan81

    Spamcan81 Nat Pres stalwart

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    nine elms fan likes this.
  6. sycamore

    sycamore Member

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    So the BBC title is as accurate as the title of this thread! ;-). It does annoy me about how such a large % of funding is spent on planning and feasibility studies rather than actual physical construction :-(
     
  7. Martin Perry

    Martin Perry Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator Friend

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    The thread title was accurate given the info available at the time :)
    Changed it now ok? :)
     
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  8. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    That planning and preparatory work is not wasted though, as it will form the basis for the actual implementation. £500,000 sounds a lot, but it is a big project. 5% of a project spent on planning is hardly extravagant, particularly for a project like this that (I suspect) is quite complex - it's far more than "just build a big shed and fill it with trains".

    Tom
     
  9. Hurricane

    Hurricane Member

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    Correct, when you look at consultant fees on any large project you would get a shock; however when you consider the amount of regulations/time scales involved in getting a project from concept to delivery stage its easy to see how the fees quickly build up. Unfortunately in this country a lot of time is wasted fighting the nimby's "great idea but not in my back yard"
     
  10. siquelme

    siquelme Well-Known Member

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    From my experince of HLF grants the consultant fees for that project are going to be HUGE. One of the reasons why with Canadian Pacific we applied for £895,000 is because we knew once your project applicant grant goes past over a £1 million you are given so many hoops to jump through it makes any application very difficult.
     
  11. 46118

    46118 Part of the furniture

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    Reading the info on the GCR website and in their weekly email newsletter, just arrived, yes they do have to make a further--presumably more detailed-application, but the £9.5 million is already "earmarked" for them, so provided they jump through the hoops correctly, they will get the money. 300 short-term construction jobs, 9 full time posts, and a boost to the "economic benefit" of the GCR to Leicester. Everyone appears happy.

    An element of "match funding" is apparently required, the amount of this not quoted. Due to open in 2019 if all goes well.

    "Green Arrow" mentioned as an inmate, plus presumably the "Director" and the GCR 2-8-0.

    Isn't there a GCR "Barnum" coach somewhere?

    46118
     
  12. torgormaig

    torgormaig Part of the furniture Friend

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    This announced in the week that further redundancies have been enacted at the" real" NRM. This couldn't be backdoor privatisation by any chance?

    Peter James
     
  13. Spirax

    Spirax New Member

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    tbh Id have thought the money would be better spent on the existing NRM York as its turned into a railway storage site rather than a modern museum with things to do and educate people in an interesting way as such, Its rather past its sell by date. Shildon appears to be a storage shed with lines of stock and not much to see, so it will be interesting what this museum actually turns out to be regarding railway history ( bearing in mind there is alot more to railway history before the London Extension what thought of....). I think the Steam museum at Swindon is an example of what a railway museum should be like if it is to tell a story. Its interesting though that all Leicester City Council have done in the past is to destroy the city's railway history to be fair, and now theyre jumping on the bandwagon. Not the best location really, on the edge of a council estate and unlike York, 6 miles or so from the city centre itself. Would be better built in Derby if anything.
    ;)
     
  14. oddsocks

    oddsocks Well-Known Member

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    Leicester North is approx 2 miles from the centre of the city of Leicester, six miles would be approx. Rothley on the G.C.R. I don't see why Derby would be better at all, let's face it Leicester had a Railway years before Derby ever did.:D:Happy::Smuggrin:
     
  15. Checkflaps

    Checkflaps New Member

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    For the best location, just build the museum at Leicester Central station and work to reinstate the line back to Leicester North. Win Win (in about 50 years time) :D
     
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  16. JMJR1000

    JMJR1000 Member

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    Well after a close call miss last year, the GCR and NRM have been granted the money, the first £500,000 to be exact. I read this news in the latest issue of the Railway Magazine, where they had a couple of new concept art shots of the layout of the building, though I have to say I find it for now a tad underwhelming...

    The building looks to hold a fair few pieces of rolling stock, but it can be hardly considered another Shildon, more like the SVR's Engine House, not that it's a real issue but I was perhaps hoping for something a bit more substantial...

    The real gripe I have with the current plans though is that the station appears to be slanted and pushed to the side, with just a single platform. I would have been nice if they had design it with two platforms and overall roof, giving it the feel of a proper major terminus station, especially if they (hopefully) finally reinstate the double track the final stretch to Leicester North.

    But enough about what I think, how about the rest of you, any thoughts?
     
  17. simon

    simon Resident of Nat Pres

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    Threads now amalgamated so need for my comment.
     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2015
  18. huochemi

    huochemi Part of the furniture

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    I will be interested to see how it is proposed to get it to at least wash its face financially, with nine full time employees and all the overheads, and presumably no cross subsidy arrangements with the railway. One of the main benefits to the railway seems to be the new car park so perhaps the museum can trouser the revenue from that?
     
  19. Peter Hall

    Peter Hall Guest

    Without digging into the detail, wasn't this the problem with STEAM that projected footfall fell short and was insufficient to cover running costs. This also being part of the current problems at Snibston and Darlington as well. When income fails to meet expenditure who picks up the tab? Its great getting the money and building these things bit what is more important is their future viability.

    When I was a student in the 1980s I served a placement in Rotherham. At the time they were bidding for some money for some museum type project. I was told by one of those on the team that it was basically a none starter as Rotherham was not like York, Canterbury and Stratford-upon-Avon. These were visitor destinations with the infrastructure and facilities to draw people in again and again. At the time the Bradford Media Museum was being developed and it was predicted then that this would have problems in the future once the novelty wore off. This has proved to be the case and just look what happened with Transperience.

    How many enthusiasts and none enthusiasts make regular return visits to Swindon, Darlington or even Shildon? Not many I suspect, but the same enthusiasts and none enthusiasts probably visit York fairly regularly.

    Personally I think the museum element of STEAM is good, but appreciate that to make that possible it also has to sell itself as a function venue as well and consequently give up quite a proportion of its display space. As a result it is far less of a drain on the local finances than it was. A lesson perhaps for those promoting the Leicester project.
     
  20. big.stu

    big.stu Well-Known Member

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    We have a family season ticket for STEAM, as does my father-in-law (who lives in Gloucester), and some combination of us takes my son there pretty much every school holiday (including half term weeks!). For him, the driving and signal box simulations are obsessions, and he would quite happily spend all day there going back and forth between the two...

    ...but then again, I suspect we aren't like the average visitor(s) :eek:
     

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