Cabsides, totems, poster and London Underground mix it with nameplates at Pershore
A DIESEL nameplate, cabside and smokebox numberplates, totem station signs, a London Underground platform roundel, and a poster, all mixed it with the middlepriced steam nameplates in GW Railwayana’s sale at Pershore on March 14 – the last major railwayana auction to be held live before the virus curtain came down on such activities.
Two nameplates that were ahead of all others under the hammer were Dartmouth
Castle from GWR No. 4088 (£14,000) and Nelson from LMS Jubilee No. 45664 (£12,900)
– although also threatening the fivefigure benchmark was Saint Stephen from GWR No. 2929 (£9100).
There followed Nederland Line from SR Merchant Navy Pacific No. 35014 (£8600), Burmington Grange (GWR No. 6829 – £6000), and a pair of GWR classmates, Rood Ashton Hall (No. 4965 – £5000) and Holker Hall from No. 6911 at £3000. A non-seller on the day was the nameplate, coat-of-arms and scroll set from SR West Country class No. 34005 Barnstaple, but this did sell the following week for £15,500.
Warship heads Grange
Between the plates from the Merchant Navy and Grange came Cockade from Class 42‘Warship’diesel-hydraulic D810 at £7000, and the Grange nameplate realisation of £6000 was matched by a cabside numberplate from GWR No. 6017 King Edward IV. Nameplate and cabside combo Western Chieftain from Class 52 D1057 was another that failed to sell under the hammer, but that too went after close of play, for £8000.
Two other category winners that outsold the pair of halls were an LNER poster by Tom Purvis (1888-1959) of ‘The Coronation’crossing the Royal Border Bridge at Berwick-upon-tweed (£5600), and a station totem sign from Northampton Castle (£5300), the latter being shadowed by another totem, Fort William, which went for £4900. Another top-scoring station sign was London Underground platform roundel Arsenal (£4000).
Heading the smokebox numberplates with a realisation of £4100 was 7005 from GWR 4-6-0 Sir Edward Elgar which started life in 1946 as Lamphey Castle
and was renamed in August 1957, and skipping back to the cabsides puts three more in the spotlight – 4008 from GWR Royal Star (£3700), 4076 from Carmarthen Castle (£3000), and 4088, which sold for £2900 immediately after its matching Dartmouth Castle
nameplate went to a new home.
Clocks ticked all the right boxes, with a GWR 12in drop dial dating from circa 1850 going for £3100 and an ex-barry
Goods Yard signalbox example from about 1860 for £2000, while a‘royal Scot’ headboard achieved £2600. This price was matched by a Cambrian Railways’ ex-welshpool handlamp and a locomotive chime whistle from either a‘brit’or Standard Class 5MT, and close behind at £2500 came a Walsingham and Wells single line staff from the former GER line that closed in 1964.
Worksplates were led by a Sharp Stewart & Co (works No. 2298) from an ironstone quarry metre gauge 0-4-0ST named J.d.ellis built in 1873 (£2800), and a four-figure shedplate was 83G (Penzance and later Templecombe) that sold for £1150.
Improved bid
Two £1600 realisations were a Southern Railway pathway ownership cast iron notice and a GWR Improved Draughting locomotive cab plate from No. 7013 Bristol Castle, and a bid of £1300 secured a fascia enamel sign from the Southern Region station of Itchen Abbas. Prices exclude buyer’s premium of 11% (+ VAT).
Simon Turner was a relieved auctioneer after the last of the collectors left for home.“with the virus problem we were a bit concerned, and the day before there was a noticeable spike in commission bids from people who had decided not to attend.
“However, the room was full, with a lot of new people, and internet bidding was 50% up. It turned out to be a strong auction, unbelievable to be honest. Clocks did very well, and enamels continue to be in demand.”