The 10A Allocation

Writing it off reduces your tax bill, but you still need to spend the money. If an overhaul costs £1m and your tax rate is 20% you are still going to end up £800k down, albeit plus an overhauled loco

 

Looking at this another way though, the business in question is effectively custodian of a large part of UK railway preservation, the thing that this forum is about.
Drawing a parallel, it is akin to being a fan of a football team where the club has owners who have little regard for fan input to how the club is run.
So I would say there is a 'community interest' in how the steam charter industry is run and by extension each of the 'players'.

 

All good ideas, however I'm not sure RTC necessarily has the agency to use other TOCs or rolling stock suppliers.
Lets face it, if RTC had a free hand and more power they wouldn't choose to operate as they have been the last few years.

 

Is that not how most football clubs are run, but that is a digression.
There may be a "community interest" and where donations, memberships etc are asked for a valid input ergo say the NYMR debate.
But when looking at LSL and WCRC, whom to my knowledge have never asked for any financial input from the public or the enthusiast community to me it seems akin to suggesting to Tesco that the "community" is unhappy with their stock range, or number of stores, or Ryanair's choice of routes and aircraft type.
Once they are a private business it is down to the owners to decide what they want to do, & even if they were public quoted companies you still have no say. My 6000 odd BA shares (which are now an unknown number of IAG shares as I have no interest in the Spanish Company) gave me, and still give me zero input into any issue, let alone decision making.

 

The object of any business is to make a profit regardless of what it does.... making widgets...growing spuds. If you lose sight of that.....well...?

 

You make my point for me, "once they are a private business" is precisely the issue, where historical artefacts, and preservation thereof, becomes a matter of wider concern.
I fully accept that individuals are entitled to collect items of cultural heritage, be it works of art or locomotives and are at liberty to do as they wish with private possessions. That doesn't negate "enthusiasts" from remaining as stakeholders in that cultural heritage. Hopefully the works of art or locomotives survive for future generations to appreciate but in private hands that isn't a given.
For the avoidance of doubt, I'm not suggesting the 10A allocation is at risk of destruction, merely that the wide veneration which is part of their attraction as collectors items isn't considered in their current curation, who knows of the future?
Nor am I "demanding a say" just as football fans we are powerless to influence something which is cherished by many thousands. We just have to hope custodians act respectfully, with propriety and good faith, for the time they have on earth with those possessions.

 

What a dumb contribution in this context. Nobody would seriously go into locomotive owning to "make a profit".
Or rather to make a small fortune, start with a large one ....
The point of running this charter business is surely a revenue stream to offset the vast costs of acquiring, restoring and running steam locos?