Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway

Yes, I agree money is the root of all evil, so they say, and to be honest, I think Conqueror will fill the gap nicely that has been left by Zillar. I don't think that we have seen the last of the moves from Collection X yet

 

Love of money is the problem. Money is a useful tool though it is sadly too prone to abuse.

 

Not sure where "love of money" comes into this? Perhaps you meant "lack of money"?? On the face of it "Conqueror" looks to be a good acquisition for the W&L - a suitable size if it is ever needed to replace one of the existing fleet, but a nice to have museum exhibit till then. It just needs a museum to house it, along with other current and potential exhibits. Is there an Indian 0-6-2 tender engine in "Collection X" that could join it?

 

Absolutely, and as well as money and workshop capacity, volunteer numbers are the other limiting factor. Anyone wishing to help with any of this would I'm sure be very welcome, and maybe we'll see Countess, 85, Joan and even Conqueror back in action.

 

There seem to be 3 Indian 2'6 locos in the collection, the tender engine is a North British 4-6-0, there are also a Bagnall 2-6-2T and a Kerr Stuart 0-6-4T. As far as I know, none have yet been seen in public.

 

Although basic, the storage shed at Welshpool with its display and interpretation panels already seems to be a pretty effective way of displaying out of service equipment - and gives something to do during the short turn-around time.

 

The tender engine is actually a 4-6-2 No 666 and not a 4-6-0 - it's a CC class loco as shown on the link below of one of is sisters . . .

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124446949@N06/35890012560

 

I feel there is going to be a need for a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, with a maximum of £ 10 million per project

 

Do you ever propose narrow gauge projects that come with a less than £10m price tag?

Tom

 

Most of that will be used up with multiple business plans, strategy plans, professional fundraisers and creating multiple companies to do every sub-task.

 

Absolutely no use whatsoever at the W&L, but would make a lovely museum piece there! Shame there are no Bagnall 0-6-2 tender engines, though - one of those might be an interesting potential runner!

 

No, not really. I was told by those who know, that you should always apply for more, as it is far harder to make up the balance if you don't have enough in the first place, and you certainly don't want to get halfway through a project only to fine that you have run out of money.

 

Yes, but not 10x of the cost. The grants have to pass a value for money test, so there is always a balance to strike. Go too big and you might find you get nothing.

 

The Kerr Stuart is one of these
https://www.flickr.com/photos/124446949@N06/41845776820

I'd hate to think what the condition is like though. Conqueror looks well suited to working up Golfa bank, that Indian Pacific looks completely unsuitable given the long boiler.

 

Not to mention that the quality of the estimates will be used as a guide to the quality of the rest of the application.

 

Last time I wrote an HLF application, I think that the unofficial guidance was to allow cac205 contingency figure in the budget. I think any more than that would be regarded as excessive.

 

I would agree, however, besides the loco restoration costs, others have mentioned a new workshop and everything that goes with that, so as I see it, we are not just talking about the restoration of one loco but the building of an additional workshop and covered accommodation to carry the work out under cover, we should also not forget that may be we should consider the employment of a couple of steam engineers to not only work on Conqueror to get her back in to steam ASAP. Then, once that has been done, overhaul one or two of the other locos. I see this as more of a package of wants and needs to be put together, it is a bit like the old Hole in My Bucket Song, you can't do one thing without something else being in place first of all.

 

I suggest going back to basic project and programme planning ideas.

A list of what needs to happen needs to be pulled together, and the projects required to make those things happen defined. Then, and only then, it will be possible to estimate what that package will cost - and hence what money needs to be raised to pay for it all.

Depending on the circumstances, it may be better to run them as separate projects, each a bit at a time, or it may be better to try to do them as a single programme of work. The precise order will depend on how the different bits fit together.

During that planning process, there needs to be rigorous analysis of what are "essential" and what are "nice to have" items; once that plan is set, great care needs to be taken to avoid new stuff added to the scope on a "wouldn't it be nice if..." basis.

All of the above is completely separate from considering contingency, which is the amount of money that is allowed in a budget for when the things that are in scope come out more expensive than first thought - not as a slush fund for other activities.

Having reviewed a number of funding submissions in my time, it is really easy to tell the difference between the projects where someone's thought things through, and those which are just a dumping ground for a wishlist. As a grant giver, I will almost always have too little money to go between too many applications; if something is a wishlist, it will be rejected more or less on sight.

 

This thread seems to be taking place in a parallel universe. Back in reality, there are two working steam locos available for the next two years. Hopefully the fundraising for Countess is successful (contributions welcome!) and she can return as planned for her 125th birthday in 2027. This is estimated at £150,000 and according to the April journal the current total raised is £83,200.

Last year the railway received the second biggest grant in its history. This was £300,000 and is being used to fix the roof and repair water damage of existing buildings used as museums and storage, not very glamorous but necessary. Suggestions that there might be a handy £10 million available from somewhere to build an imaginary museum to house someone else’s unsuitable locos really doesn’t help anyone.

 

It's utterly fanciful. Now, £10M to restore the town section, on the other hand, I could get behind!