' A proper job' says Simon as GW Railwayana tackles restrictions
"A PROPER live auction except nobody in the hall" ish ow GW Railway ana S' simon Turner describes his next sale, which was originally scheduled for July 11, but has been put back to July 25.
Commission bids can be left via email or the post, with telephone bidding possible on items that were estimated to sellf or a minimum of £ 500. T hent here's the techy- bit, as explained by Simon.
' Toere will be two on line platforms for live bidding - one of which which will be our own, GWRA Live Bid - and these can be accessed by laptop, s mart' phone or tablet, a nd this will enable collectors to view me holding the auction and make their bids as if they were in the room'.'
He said anyone wanting to bid this way would need to register before the start of proceedings.
Colour catalogues will be distributed in the usual way, and in addition viewing will be possible on certain lots at Simon's home by appointment, subject to any travel restrictions that may still be in place T.he GWRA buyer's premium has recently been increased to 15%( VAT), and the extra premium normally applicable to items bought on line will be waived on the GWRA Live Bid site.
Highlights of the 500- lotsale include nine name plates f,ive of which were from the Ted Watkinson collection, and featured in last month's issue of Heritage Railway T.he other four comprise GWR trio Saint Vincent C,ompton Castlea nd T horn bridge Hall, supported by SR representative Morgan Le Fay.
The Saint, No. 2930, was built in September 1907, and made it into BR stock before withdrawal from Chester ( 84K) in November 1949 after a service life of more than four decades.
TheC omptonC astlen ameh ad a rather more varied life, as it was carried by no fewer than three members of the class, the first being No. 5047, which was built at Swindon in April 1936 and renamed Earl of Dartmouth in August 1937.
The name was then given to June 1938- built No. 5072, which in turn was renamedH urricanein December1 940, and was finally carried by No. 5099, a May 1946 product which was withdrawn from GloucesteHr orton Road( 85B) in February 1963. J ustt o complicatet hings a little, No. 5047 wasn't the first GWR locomotive to be named Earl of Dartmouth- that privilege, a lbeitf or just a few months, went to No. 3 204/ 9004a, ' Dukedog4' 4- 0 outshopped by Swindon in August 1936.
ThornbridgeH al/ wasc arriedb y
No. 6964, which emerged from Swindon in May 1944 and met its end in September 1965 when a resident ofBanbury ( 2D). Botht he halla nd ComptonC astlea re Grade- listedb uildings, t he former near GreatL ongstonein Derbyshirea nd the castlei n Marldon, w est ofTorquayR. nally comesM organL eF ayf, r om KingA rthur No. 30750, built by the London & South WesternR ailwaya t its EastleighW orksi n October 1922 and withdrawn by BR from Basingstoke( 7 0D) i n July 1957.
Another highlight is a headboard with crest from Toe Red Dragon; which in the 1950se nabledW esternR egion trainspottersto witnesst he handsome lineso f the BritanniaP acifiebs ecause a numberofthemwereallocated to Cardiff Canton primarily for use on this expressT. he board is in the style introduced by BR in 1956 and used until 1962.
I logged this London Paddington to SouthW alese xpressa t ReadingG eneral
London- bound: Britannia No. 70023 Venus in Sonning Cutting, near Twyford, with the Up ' Red Dragon' on August 1, 1959. The Standard Pacificw, hichh as just 33 miles to go before reaching its Paddington destination, c arriesa headboard from the expresso f the type that will be going under the hammer at a GW Railwayana auction. TRANSPORT TREASURYC/ RR ILEY. Inset: The headboard that is being sold on July25. GWRA
on a number of occasionsin the late1950sv, ariouslyh auledb y Nos. 7 0023 Venus7, 0024V ulcana, nd 70029S hooting StarT. wo of my logso n successive daysi n 1958i llustratet he intenseu se to which Western Region express locomotivesw ere put at the heighto f the summer season.
On FridayA, ugust2 9, N o. 7 0029c ame through Readinga t 12.21p m on the Up'Red Dragon; and four hours later passedth rough on a Down Rshguard Harbour train, having had a brief service and turnround at Paddington before returning to south Wales.
The following day, a busy August Saturdayt, h e Pacifica gainc amet hrough Readingo n the Up'RedD ragon-' just one minute later than it had on the same working the previousd ay- and once againp assedth rough four hoursl atero n the Down FishguardH arboure xpress. ➔ See next month's railwayana column for further details of items in the auction.