Memories of bygone age evoked as toys and rail items go up for sale
A TREASURE trove of collectors’ pieces are to be sold in an auction featuring rare railway memorabilia and coveted toys.
The catalogue, from Ryedale Auctioneers, gives a fascinating glimpse into a world of collectables, with old teddy bears to be sold alongside wartime torches and lamps.
There are boxes of old black and white photographs, a violin and trombone, and among the items drawing the most interest are an assortment of railway relics and souvenirs.
One, a model locomotive with roundhouse boiler system and wagon, is listed with an estimate of £400 to £600, while there are old whistles, circuit cards and wagon plates.
“There are a lot of railway collectors about,” said auctioneer Jeremy Wood. “It’s very magical, that age of steam, and people are hankering after that sort of thing.
“I can remember going to a station and seeing the steam as an engine goes past, it does take you back to a bygone, genteel age.”
Thursday’s auction, to be hosted online by the Kirkbymoorside-based company, features Meccano motors, Dublo tracks, and boxes of old blackand-white photograph’s from York and Scarborough’s railway heyday.
There is also a vast sale of cycle lights, with some from the 1940s that would have had filters in case of air raids and blackouts, alongside oil signal lamps from the London underground, and a paratroopers torch from the Second World War.
“This sort of auction appeals to a wide range of people, because a lot of the items are rare or unusual,” said Mr Wood. “It takes people back to their childhood.”
It does take you back, to a bygone, genteel age.
Jeremy Wood of Ryedale Auctioneers.