Nigel on track to make thousands from beloved 70-year railway collection
DERBY and Derbyshire’s train-making heritage brings many rail-related items to our door – model train sets, live steam engines and more. Derbyshire is a county brimming with rail engineers and people with a passion for trains and, for some, that interest expands into collecting and building model railways. Many a home, attic or garden shed boasts major collections built with love, and occasionally these enter the regular toy and railwayana auctions held at our Derbyshire and Staffordshire salerooms.
But nothing prepared us for the sheer enormity of a model railway collection set to go under the hammer on September 11. It’s the life’s work of an enthusiast who was given his first train set when he was one. Such is its quality and size – 350 lots - it could fetch more than £70,000 at auction.
The Nigel Thornley Collection includes an enormous and eclectic mix of models featuring many Lancashire and Yorkshire prototypes in 7mm scale, general railwayana, train books and more. His passion for trains enriched his life for more than 70 years. As well as collecting and building models, he devoted countless hours to ensuring Britain’s railway heritage was preserved forever.
Inevitably, there are Derbyshire connections. For example, lot 54 is a Sunset Models O Gauge Brass ‘Sir Nigel Gresley’ Class A4 Pacific BR Green 60007. Sir Herbert Nigel Gresley CBE (1876-1941), one of Britain’s most famous steam locomotive engineers, was raised in the Derbyshire village of Netherseal.
The man who has been carefully cataloguing Nigel Thornley’s collection is Mark Holder, Hansons’ trains and railwayana valuer and manager of our Nostalgia and Toy Bygones sales at Bishton Hall in Staffordshire.
He says Nigel’s lots deserves an auction all of their own. That’s because his love of trains was allencompassing and his passion comes through on every level.
There’s something for everyone, from fine scale O gauge and gauge 1 examples, with OO gauge and diecast Dublo trains to postcards and a large cache of books.
And if you like building your own models, there are unbuilt kits from manufacturers like DJH. It really is a once-in-a-lifetime collection, unmissable sale for rail enthusiasts, offering items that are rarely available for sale. As you would imagine, interest is already strong.
The late Nigel Thornley (19492021), from Chester, owes his train passion to his father, who gave him his first train set when he was 18 months old. It was the start of a hobby that brought him joy for the rest of his life.
Nigel began his love of trains with Hornby Dublo 3-Rail track as a small boy. When he was 12 he used to go to the local signal box and help out. On one occasion he got a warning the inspector was on his way, so hid round the back.
The inspector couldn’t be fooled. He knew Nigel was there, called him in and put him through his paces. He made him answer a series of questions about signal boxes and then got the youngster to demonstrate the correct way to operate the levers and signals.
Finally, he said ‘the lad can stay’ much to the relief of the signalman, and Nigel.
At the age of 14 he used to be picked up by Richard Greenwood, a father figure in railway preservation, and taken over to Haworth in City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, for the weekend to help restore a Pug. That Pug is still in service at Haworth’s Keithley and Worth Valley heritage railway. Nigel became a founder member of the Keithley and Worth Valley Railway Society.
In his late teens/early twenties he got together with a friend, Trevor Hughes, to form the Rochdale Model Railway Society which is also still thriving. However, his real passion was the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Society. He became an avid modeller of engines, coaches and rolling stock and collector of anything he could find relating to his beloved L&YR. However, he still modelled and collected locomotives and stock from other lines.
He was fanatical about wanting to preserve things for posterity and, determined that nothing should be lost, he and his fellow society members worked with the Manchester Archives to ensure as much information as possible was saved and recorded there.
He spent hours searching the internet for items which he bought on behalf of the L&YR.
A member and supporter of many railway societies, heritage trusts and guilds, and a regular face at exhibitions, he will be sorely missed by all who knew him.
We very much hope to do Nigel’s passion proud at auction. His important collection is set to delight fellow rail enthusiasts and will continue to do so for generations to come.
The Nigel Thornley Collection is in Hansons’ September 11 Nostalgia & Toy Bygones Auction at Bishton Hall. To find out more, contact Mark Holder: mholder@ hansonsauctioneers.co.uk. Catalogue due live September 4: www. hansonslive.co.uk. Entries are invited for all future toy and railwayana auctions. To arrange a free valuation, contact Mark (as above) or David WilsonTurner, head of our Derbyshire toy sales: dwilsonturner@ hansons auctioneers.
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