4920 Dumbleton Hall

Indeed - though as the PDSR is not charitable, the point is possibly moot.

 

Let's not forget that money given to charities often supports jobs that otherwise wouldn't be there.

 

That kinda was my point, expressed badly. The PDSR isn't a charity, and it would struggle to make the case for charitable status if it made it (and that's fine, and they probably wouldn't want to anyway). Going back to @meeee 's original point, it felt aimed at those large-scale operators that are very much at the corporate/commercial end of the spectrum, and a pretty long way away from the educational and public benefit side of things, and in my lingo, much more PDSR than SDR.

Simon

 

The problem with that is that it is difficult to determine the worthiness of different causes. If the government slashed the arts budget to nothing there would be howls of outrage, even if the money saved was all going to arguably more deserving recicpients like the NHS...

 

Which presumes that “deserving” is measured in purely functional terms.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

That's true to a point. Yes, it's not open and shut, binary decisions, but there is extensive case law and detailed guidance, not to mention a dedicated (if occasionally shambolically operated) organisation to oversee the issue.

Eg https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/charitable-purposes-and-public-benefit

That framework should help distinguish between those that warrant charitable status and those who don't.

Simon

 

But where do you draw a line? Do you have an ISA or a pension? Both benefitting from positive tax treatments for the individual. I'm not sure many people forgo these in order to pay more tax. And that's before we start to distinguish between wealth and income....

 

Methinks the parable of the Talents applies here. It is possible to redistribute wealth once you define what wealth is. I have a collection of both railway books and photographs (my digital images alone I calculate at over 100,000) which I value greatly - it constitutes part of my "wealth". To my wife and family it has no value therefore is not a part of their "wealth" even though some people would pay money to own part of my "wealth". Given this personal identification of wealth, how can a tax authority level a charge on wealth which is so personal as to be beyond valuation. Even on the assumption that "wealth" is defined in monetary terms it can be seen that giving everyone the same amount of money, personal choices regarding what is "wealth" will also influence what a person needs and wants - another finely defined status that divides people. A TV reviewer NEEDS a Television in order to perform his job whilst a householder only WANTS a television as he sees this as part of a household furniture. Hence the dilemma for taxation; how do you identify wealth in a way that allows a portion of it to be removed (taxed) at a level - and in a way - that the payer does not feel he has been robbed ?

 

Is that you Rishi?

 

Dear all, are we straying too far from the topic and into contentious territory that might be better left unexplored on this forum?

 

Turning this round somewhat, couldn't West coast cash in on the popularity of Potter world, by overhauling a hall painting it as Hogwarts Castle, rebranding some Mk1's as " Wizarding Railways, And running some potter themed excursions over the S&C ?

 

Not without WB agreement and then them taking a large cut if they did I suspect.
All about brand protection.

 

I very much doubt that that agreement would be forthcoming. Remember the hassle that West Coast got of WB a few years ago when the Jacobite was requested to stop at Essen to pick up a stranded family whose boat had been swept away overnight. Before they had even reached Arisaig they had tweeted that they had been rescued by what they called the Harry Potter train. In no time at all the media had picked up on this and made a big thing about it. A solicitor's letter from WB landed at Carnforth next day claiming breach of copyright.

The only people who could run Harry Potter trains over the S&C or anywhere else would be Warner Brothers themselves and that ain't likely to happen.

Peter

 

I fear the money would mostly head in the direction of Warner Bros.

Its a shame there isn't the same level of mania for the Terry Pratchett book "Raising Steam" since the late Mr Pratchett and his family are much more amenable to enthusiast activity. Mind you the climactic scenes of the occupants of a moving train fighting off terrorists, including hand to hand combat on the train roof, would be a little difficult to organise in a safe and RAIB approved manner!

 

That sounds more like a behind-the-scenes documentary at the West Somerset Railway.

 

WCRC did use 5972 to run Harry Potter trains for a number of years though didn't they? I really thought this was why they were buying 4920 but clearly not.

 

Just to remind myself of the context in which the current discussion is taking place, I revisited the start of this thread, nine years ago, Though this sale might be a rare occurrence, the issues surrounding 4920 are by no means unique. We can only hope lessons have been learned.

On the flipside, more than a few locos have been 'repatriated' from foreign shores. In the case of several NG locos, the hoops jumped through in order to comply with Indonesian regulations preventing export of scrap metal speak volumes for the determination of those involved in these rescues (which is what they most certainly are).

A related issue popped up elsewhere a few years ago. When IMR No.3 Pender was sold to MOSI, where it remains proudly displayed (albeit part sectioned) in the city of it's birth, no-one thought to negotiate an agreement for it to serve any additional function to advertise it's former home line with so much as a headboard. A trick missed there, I feel.

We're a territorial lot, but (sorry, folks) that does need to be tempered by recalling that most horrible thing of all ..... harsh reality.

 

Though the fact Warner Bros & JK Rowling authorised the Forbidden Forest Experience for 2021, leaves potential for further developments...

Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience in Cheshire (UK) (hpforbiddenforestexperience.com)