What If ideas/goals for the upcoming year, what are YOUR plans?

[Beermonster58]

It costs £44 MILLION to 'develop a business case'??

Money for old rope for the 'developers', who will sit around with their mates for an hour so and invent some spurious 'business plan' which they'll underquote for and then say 'the costs have multiplied' when it gets started and demand more funding.     

The original funding for the project was £542 million. When the one and only line finally opened several  years late it was already £400 million over budget and, the tram  has run at a net loss, recently estimated at £40 million +   since starting services in 2014. The huge loss is mainly attributed to borrowing costs associated with building the original line which terminated approx 4.5 km short of its intended original destination. The line has now been extended at a cost of a further £207 million. The original estimate for the extension was £165 million.

[kitbasher]

A trolley bus, maybe a model kit to begin with and a few whiffs or a working model. Well there's working models of trams in 00/ho so a trolley bus shouldn't be too difficult.

Given the "recent" revival of trams over the last few years in the UK (I think my hometown Croydon was the first) I'm surprised no one has suggested bringing the old trolley bus back  I used to like riding on them as a kid, it always seemed more "exciting" then ordinary buses for some reason. Maybe it was that buzz they made when moving off ?

There used to be an extensive trolley bus system in Manchester, I remember them as a kid.  They were okay until they disconnected themselves from their power lines. 

As a public transport option they had their day, although never say never regarding a future 'greener' option in the future somewhere.

Trams (referred to as 'urban light railways' in some places) I think are a better way to go, especially (like the Manchester Metro) when they can make use of redundant railway track.  Arguably cheaper to create tram networks than underground networks, but undoubtedly they do come at a cost, not just project capital costs.  The disruption caused during network construction will have impacts upon local economies that may take years to mitigate or recover from.

But then again with any such infrastructure projects there will be winners and losers.

[Beermonster58]

A trolley bus, maybe a model kit to begin with and a few whiffs or a working model. Well there's working models of trams in 00/ho so a trolley bus shouldn't be too difficult.

Trams (referred to as 'urban light railways' in some places) I think are a better way to go, especially (like the Manchester Metro) when they can make use of redundant railway track.  Arguably cheaper to create tram networks than underground networks, but undoubtedly they do come at a cost, not just project capital costs.  The disruption caused during network construction will have impacts upon local economies that may take years to mitigate or recover from.

But then again with any such infrastructure projects there will be winners and losers.

And that massive disruption is exactly the problem Edinburgh faced and, is still dealing with and, will have to suffer more if the City Clowncil gets its way. Mere mention of the tram locally is often enough to get people's blood pressure rising. I  

[kitbasher]

Yep, the section of the Manchester Metro closest to my late Mum's had such a huge negative impact on local businesses that I doubt the area will ever fully recover.  Mind you, the area had been suffering a slow economic decline - the Metro work probably only accelerated matters not cause them.

McColm mentioned the Uxbridge Road trolley buses.  A few years ago a Shepherd's Bush-Uxbridge tramway was proposed (but not built).  Went to a public consultation regarding the plans - they were absolute nonsense! 

[NARSES2]

Ah so it appears we in Croydon were rather lucky then ? The 3 lines serve, what were poorly served, in terms of public transport, areas, and they intergrate well with the rest of the transport net, but that's down to having a unified public transport body, LT. 

When it was first planed the general public were very much against it, because of the disruption the work would cause. Once it got up and running those in areas not served by it, like myself, went "why can't we have a line ?". You have to admire the great British public 

Thanks for the info Beermonster. Next time I'm in Edinburgh I shall take a ride.

[PR19_Kit]

When I was little, WAY back in the last century, I used to travel on the original Croydon trams. They ran all the way from Purley, quite a way south of Croydon, right through the centre of London as far north as Highgate.

When they opened the new Tramlink system I just had to ride on it too, but was a bit disappointed as it's a mere shadow of the old system as it's only 17 miles long, mostly to the south of Croydon itself.

[Beermonster58]

Ah so it appears we in Croydon were rather lucky then ? The 3 lines serve, what were poorly served, in terms of public transport, areas, and they intergrate well with the rest of the transport net, but that's down to having a unified public transport body, LT. 

When it was first planed the general public were very much against it, because of the disruption the work would cause. Once it got up and running those in areas not served by it, like myself, went "why can't we have a line ?". You have to admire the great British public 

Thanks for the info Beermonster. Next time I'm in Edinburgh I shall take a ride.

 <_:thumbsup:  Like I said, it's got good novelty value! . I think the main difference here is that Edinburgh has an excellent local bus service that runs 24/7 already so, the tram really adds nothing to it. I can also see your point of view about areas poorly served and, I think that's where it went wrong locally. It would have made more sense to me (personal view) if the tram was able to bring people in from outside the city so that they could then use the local buses to continue their journeys. Public opinion in Edinburgh is still generally much very "anti "tram but, I'm pleased to hear that at least, it seems to have worked where you live <_. If you do visit in the near future, I recommend you buy a Lothian Buses  day ticket which will give unlimited travel on both bus and tram services for £5. It's valid from about 04.15 - midnight.

[Beermonster58]

Well, after much swithering, dithering and prevarication I have  at least achieved one goal. I've cancelled my Amazon Prime Video subscription. I wasn't going to pay good money for an ad free streaming service only to have adverts foisted on me through the back door. My Netflix subscription is on the verge of going the same way.

On the model front, I have severely culled my stock of unbuilt kits. I've donated some to local charity shops and, given the others away to anybody that wants them.I don't now buy any new kits until I've completed at least two of my remaining ones. Now that I'm officially retired I can complete turning my spare bedroom into a man cave!

[kitbasher]

Commendable approach to stash management.  I try the same but fail occasionally to maintain stash addition discipline. 

[NARSES2]

When I was little, WAY back in the last century, I used to travel on the original Croydon trams. They ran all the way from Purley, quite a way south of Croydon, right through the centre of London as far north as Highgate.

When they opened the new Tramlink system I just had to ride on it too, but was a bit disappointed as it's a mere shadow of the old system as it's only 17 miles long, mostly to the south of Croydon itself.

When I was little the tram lines were still running down the middle of Streatham High Rd, but the trams themselves had long gone. Fliiping lethal if you got your bikes wheels stuck in them 

[Beermonster58]

Commendable approach to stash management.  I try the same but fail occasionally to maintain stash addition discipline. 

I find that a somewhat limited budget allied to eye watering kit prices actually aids stash addition discipline tremendously  

[McColm]

Commendable approach to stash management.  I try the same but fail occasionally to maintain stash addition discipline. 

I find that a somewhat limited budget allied to eye watering kit prices actually aids stash addition discipline tremendously  

It seems to me that if you are receiving benefits and trying to return to work through a college course government agencies give with one hand, then take it back with the other.

[Beermonster58]

Commendable approach to stash management.  I try the same but fail occasionally to maintain stash addition discipline. 

I find that a somewhat limited budget allied to eye watering kit prices actually aids stash addition discipline tremendously  

It seems to me that if you are receiving benefits and trying to return to work through a college course government agencies give with one hand, then take it back with the other.

Oh, I've been there, seen it, done it, bought the T shirt........! Well, at least the "benefits" part that is. The system really is broken but, that's for another discussion and, certainly not for here.

[NARSES2]

Commendable approach to stash management.  I try the same but fail occasionally to maintain stash addition discipline. 

I find that a somewhat limited budget allied to eye watering kit prices actually aids stash addition discipline tremendously  

It seems to me that if you are receiving benefits and trying to return to work through a college course government agencies give with one hand, then take it back with the other.

Oh, I've been there, seen it, done it, bought the T shirt........! Well, at least the "benefits" part that is. The system really is broken but, that's for another discussion and, certainly not for here.

Absolutely 

[McColm]

It looks to me as if the Airfix Chinook could do with a fuselage stretch could or a candidate for the MH-47G.
The DMC Delorean really needs the Lotus touch with proper doors and a different engine, if the wheels were the same that would be a bonus as well.
The Pole Barn Garage on YouTube has what they call the Goat, a Pontiac GTO that's been used for target practice. Well its a runner and would be an interesting build in plastic.