LMS on top form with full-size and model locomotives
THE LMS was in sparkling form in Great Central’s live online 200-lot auction on March 6, thanks to nameplates
Honourable Artillery Company and
Seahorse.
The former, which included an integral badge, was from Royal Scot No. 46144, which entered traffic from the North British Works in Glasgow in November 1927 and carried the name Ostrich until being renamed in January 1933.
Its price of £14,800 was exactly double the £7400 achieved by
Seahorse, from Jubilee No. 45705, and was way ahead of the third main line nameplate, Sir Urre of the Mount, from another North British product, SR King Arthur No. 30788 (£6000).
A brace of industrial nameplates comprised Australia from Manchester Ship Canal Railway 0-6-0T No. 50, built by Hudswell Clarke & Co in 1907 (£1550), and Bilsthorpe No. 1 from a colliery 0-6-0ST built by Hawthorn Leslie in 1925 (£1450).
Station totem signs were in the full glare of the spotlight in Great Central’s auction on February 20 when, as reported in last month’s column, Broad Street beat all comers with a realisation of £11,200. This time, however, the category had to be content with second place behind the nameplates, headed at £3400 by BR(W) Devonport, which was shadowed by BR(E) Stratford (£3200), while at £2600 came a BR(E) Stoke Newington Station direction sign.
A 1910 LBSCR Brighton combined works and numberplate from I3 class 4-4-2T No. 81, which made its way into BR stock as No. 32081, went for £3100, and a Great Northern Railway 1908 Doncaster example from J21 class 0-6-0 No. 65004 for £1750. Top cabside numberplate was 1007 from GWR County of Brecknock (£2200), and at the head of the smokebox numberplates was 51253 from an LMS Class 0F 0-4-0ST (£1400).
Not content with grabbing the nameplate headlines, the LMS also achieved success with a £2700 realisation for an O-gauge model of streamlined Princess Coronation No. 6223 Princess Alice made by Masterpiece Models, and leading poster was LNER‘Giants refreshed’by
Terence Cuneo, that featured A4 Sir Ronald Matthews and A2 Owen Tudor in Doncaster Works (£2300).
Signalling was a busy category, with a singleline tablet and singleline ganger’s key being the front runners at £2100 apiece.
The former was a Tyer’s No. 7 Killin Junction-Luib brass tablet from the Callander to Oban line and the latter a GWR brass key for the Ilminster Box & Hatch Box section of the Taunton-Chard branch. Prices exclude buyer’s premium of 15% (+ VAT).
Great Central auctioneer and director Mike Soden said:“This was our second monthly 200-lot auction and once again it was excellent. For example, the Royal Scot had four keen bidders, which was quite unusual for a nameplate in that price range, and the Jubilees seem to be maintaining their prices. I also think collectors are getting used to
live online bidding.”