IF I HAD A MILLIO...LIMITLESS WEALTH

[espeefoamer]

After giving 10% to the Lord, I would move back to Portland. I would then buy an SUV to **** off the liberals,then spend the rest of my life riding and chasing trains[:D].

[Anonymous]

Well, let's see.

If I had a million dollars I'd buy a big house with a big basement, get some nice rare vintage toy trains, buy a nice car and give some to charity.

If I had unlimited wealth, besides doing the same as above, I'd buy every train on earth that is abandoned, unused or in danger of being scrapped, restore it all to operating condition and open The International Railroad Museum of The World. O.K., that might be a bit far-fetched, but we are talking unlimited wealth and it would be really great museum to visit.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

Don't want to be a wet fur coat, but.....

Be careful what you wish for; you may get it.

And.....Mr. Buffett is wealthy beyond imagination - he is also now a widower. I think I will keep the driver and less $.

Mook

Cool, maybe when I get unlimited wealth Warren and I can spend the weekend at one of those really cool "Cat" houses in Nevada and while we're there we could buy Las Vegas, monorail and all and install a mag lev train too...

LC

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

LC - now think about it. I am of the female persuasion and I am not difficult to deal with....course, we don't share potty paper, either......

Houston Ed has 4 females - wonder what his take is on that?

Mookie

I guess it's all a matter of opinion. But I know how my house gets...

Ed?? What's your take?

LC

[Anonymous]

Darn. I knew I forgot something. I'll need a good sized ex-U.S. Navy cruiser to rebuild for my yacht. We'll leave the armaments intact, paint it in a nice wave camo scheme. Crew of say sixty plus maybe that again in girls with bikinis. No marines, but we'd need a couple of ASW choppers and some nice cigarette boats to supplement the lifeboats. A couple of those nice USCG rollover boats too for rough waters. Then we could go to Europe and ride trains over there in luxury without even having to fly in one of those wretched aluminum salamis...

LC

[Overmod]

If I had unlimited wealth, one thing (not the only thing) I'd do is develop and provide some form of crossing protection for all the unavoidable grade crossings in this country. It's cheap enough with modern technology -- a few high-brightness LEDs, a circuit to actuate them (running off wireless PTC), some solar cells and batteries to keep the thing charged up, a case that makes it difficult for folks to steal and cut up the gizmo for parts. For higher-traffic crossings, add cameras (with feed to the Web and local police).

Four-way gates for crossings that deserve them. (And wouldn't I like to be able to put in spike strips, treadles, or other devices that implement 'positive vehicle stop' for anyone trying to run a crossing where a moving train is present!)

Naturally, some form of subsidy for grade-crossing elimination where deserved, or perhaps better, effective lobbying to get public agencies to do that -- it's usually not the railroads that get the most direct benefit of crossing eliminations!

[locomutt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

LC - now think about it. I am of the female persuasion and I am not difficult to deal with....course, we don't share potty paper, either......

Houston Ed has 4 females - wonder what his take is on that?

Mookie

ED,what is your take on this one[?][:)]

[tree68]

Hmmmmm -
A million - pay off everything I owe and settle in for a l-l-l-l-l-o-o-o-o-o-n-n-n-n-g-g-g-g vacation. Maybe a few large purchases, but keep enough to live comfortably.

Unlimited - RR's would still be a hobby, but a major one. Undoubtedly some large scale stuff - inch and a half to the foot, lots of acreage to run it on, plenty of toys. Lots of rail travel, too, just roaming the country, stopping wherever to visit or enjoy the sights. I'd probably run some excursions, too, especially to spite those who are trying to shut them down - "You want $10 million in insurance? Sure. Here it is, in cash!" Maybe work on restoring or building new copies of famous locos, especially steam. Who wouldn't love to see a Niagara under steam?

The fire service industry would sure get a shot in the arm - thermal imaging cameras for every department, state-of-the-art turnouts and equipment for those departments hanging on by the skin of their teeth, stuff like that. Nothing worse than a community being protected by a 30 year old fire truck because that's all they can afford.

[Mookie]

LC - if you bought all those toys, the government would put you on it's Christmas Card List! The taxes on the $ and the toys themselves would support a small country.

Tree - we are fighting over buying new firetrucks here in our town - the ones they want to retire are 24-30 years old - want me to snag you a 24 one? Sad isn't it. But if it was a councilman's house.............

Overmod - are you awake? Sounds like you are dreaming.....Building a better mousetrap? Just remember you build it, they will destroy it.

Moo

[tree68]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

Tree - we are fighting over buying new firetrucks here in our town - the ones they want to retire are 24-30 years old - want me to snag you a 24 one? Sad isn't it. But if it was a councilman's house.............
Moo

At $200,000 a pop for a pumper, and approaching half a mil for a ladder, it's not hard to understand their reluctance from a financial standpoint. Like you say, though, if it was a councilman's house, or half of downtown.....

[vsmith]

Hmmmm...

$1,000,000...Real estate, namely fixing up the old homestead...and retirement oriented investements, long term stuff that will be there in 30 years. Some Aster and Accucraft large scale live steam and a decent yard to run them in.

Unlimited $$$? Well thats a different story...Hush Hush about political, social, charitable, real estate and investment BS since this IS a train forum LOL...

First off I'd have the most Kick-*** garden railroad in the world behind the most Kick-*** Modernist house in the world....I would look to purchase my own line... something small, very scenic, maybe narrow gauge. Something I could monkey around with for several years. Something I could simply hook a private car to the end of and enjoy the trip or get dirty driving the infernal contraption...A Combres and Toltec RR type of line, I would also restore my own steam engine (or engines) for excursion runs, something unusual like the high-stepping ex-SP 4-4-2 Atlantic currently rusting away in Griffith Park .

Not to mention a kister load of model trains, antique cars, old airplanes, sailboats, etc..

[Mookie]

OK - I will play Vic's game - unlimited - donate to some favorite charities/church and then....a very contemporary house with art deco throughout! Something that would make HGTV drool....

A cleaning lady - a cook - and I would ride any train I could get to - pay them enough and they will give me a seat up front! Right? Travel around and meet the forum people.

That's it.....wants and needs fulfilled....should have enough change left over to maybe buy a big chocolate cake! (just for foolishness!)

[tree68]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

That's it.....wants and needs fulfilled....should have enough change left over to maybe buy a big chocolate cake! (just for foolishness!)

Methinks Madam LaMook wouldst buy the bakery.[:D]

[cherokee woman]

If locomutt and I had unlimited funds, we'd pay for Metro Louisville to have running
passenger trains. It would definitely help the smog issue here from all the vehicles
we have: especially during morning and evening rush hours.

We happened to be on hand the evening of the Ky. Cardinal's run to Chicago. Wish we
could have been on board, but it was only for Amtrak big wigs and city officials. Also
were on hand for the last morning run out when they stopped it.

And, of course, we would have our own private train, to take us to see all the people
on the forum. And we'd go see our European forum members we are getting to
know. Of course, to do that, we'd have to FLY to Europe first.

And since locomutt is a former firefighter/EMT, we'd help out firefighters and emergency
medical personnel.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Limitedclear

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

QUOTE: Originally posted by kevinstheRRman

intresting topic-

First thing I would do-

Invest in one of the legendary LS series digital cameras from Kodak-

now that being aside- I would most likely continue the same living poatterns, i'd still go to work- i'd still be the same person- I doubt i'd change much, I would put the money in an ING account, and spend the intrest every month.

I wouldn't have more thne one woman, the one I have now, I figure who needs many when you have one really good one?

Oh Kevin - how sweet of you! You never cease to amaze me!

Mookie

Actually Kevin, the real reason to have only one woman is that even one is very difficult to deal with. Just wait....you'll see. And, if you're blessed with daughters....

For the record I love my wife and daughters, but there are times I am glad to be a road man...

LC

I hate to be an *** and bring this back to the top for this, I feel i havn't been here in decades-

LC- I agree with you- there are times when I am so glad to be out of the house, i could kiss the train- But for sanitary reasons, I won't-

But then the freakin' Cell phone rings off the hook

I call it the "portable argument"

i usually just slam it in one of the conrol panels and close the door on it, that way- it's not off- but I can't hear it ring/ feel it vibrate or knowingly not respond to stupid calls!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

LC - if you bought all those toys, the government would put you on it's Christmas Card List! The taxes on the $ and the toys themselves would support a small country.

Tree - we are fighting over buying new firetrucks here in our town - the ones they want to retire are 24-30 years old - want me to snag you a 24 one? Sad isn't it. But if it was a councilman's house.............

Overmod - are you awake? Sounds like you are dreaming.....Building a better mousetrap? Just remember you build it, they will destroy it.

Moo

Mook-

Yeah, just think I will use my unlimited wealth to pay my taxes too and perhaps contribute enough to wipe out the national debt. In exchange I would demand tax free status for life for myself and my family and our businesses. Just think, all that cash could help us balance the buget and use the surplus to pay for research and development of new energy sources and to eliminate poverty in our time. Oh, did I mention I would also buy myself at least one private island with no trains allowed so I could vacation from the railroad for sanity sake. I would buy up a lot of timber land too and have sawmills for ties and lumber for railroad buildings. No concrete ties. ALso, none of the woodlands would be in the Amazon. No matter how long those logs last as ties I consider destroying the rainforest just plain wrong.

We could have a nice new high speed rail system too!

LC

[TrainFreak409]

If I had a million dollars, I would probably save a lot of it, help my parents with their bills, and ad on to our house. Mom says it is too small.

On the other hand...

LIMITLESS WEALTH

I would;

Buy my parents the house of their dreams.
Buy my MOM a very large vehicle.
Get myself a Ford F650 Super CrewZer.
Take care of my three brothers financial needs.
BUILD MYSELF AN HO RAILROAD THAT HAS NO LIMITATION.
HAVE AN EXPERIENCED GROUP OF PROFESSIONAL MACHINIST BUILD ME A STEAM LOCOMOTIVE.
And of course, donate MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS to charity, medical research, and other organizations.


[8]TrainFreak409[8]