Brass lever plates from pre-Grouping days lead the way at Norfolk auction

FOUR Midland Railway signalbox brass lever plates identifying such locations as Leicester, Nottingham and Millers Dale sold as a single lot for £750 at a railwayana auction of TW Gaze of Diss, Norfolk, on January 6.

The last named Peak District station opened in June 1863, known for its platform Post Office and two nearby imposing viaducts. It closed in March 1967, three years after being immortalised by Flanders and Swann in their song Slow Train.

Other signalling equipment included an Ockendon-Upminster single line staff which, with a description of Upminster-Romford goods yard token instruments dated May 1935, went for £600, and two more Midland Railway brass plates naming south Wales locations (£550).

A 1959 English Electric/Vulcan Foundry worksplate (works No. 2775/ D470) from Class 40 D253 fetched £700. This 1Co-Co1 diesel was renumbered 40053 under the TOPS renumbering system, and was one of the class’s early withdrawals, following a collision with another Class 40-hauled train near Laurencekirk, Aberdeenshire, in June 1976. Bidding in the 199-lot auction was live online, commission or telephone, and the prices quoted exclude buyer’s premium of 18% (+ VAT).