Railwayana
Geoff Courtney's regular column.
AS THE great Bob Dylan sang in 1964, the times, they are a-changing. Fast forward 57 years, and his prophesy is certainly true of the world of railwayana, as illustrated by Great Central's third monthly live online auction on April 10, which saw a diesel nameplate easily outpace steam.
Top of the 200 lots at £9800 was Druid from Class 42 Bo-Bo ‘Warship' D815, which entered traffic in January 1960 and had an operational life just short of 12 years before being withdrawn in October 1971. Trailing in the dieselhydraulic's exhaust at £7000 was Herefordshire, from LNWR No. 1455/ LMS No. 5537, an Experiment class 4-6-0 whose 24 years of main line service prior to withdrawal in December 1933 was precisely double that of D815.
Further down the nameplate chain came Talisman from GWR Saint class 4-6-0 No. 2989 (£5200), which was outshopped by Swindon in September 1905 as 4-4-2 No. 189, rebuilt as a 4-6-0 in October 1912 and renumbered 2989, and just made it into BR stock before being pensioned off in September 1948.
In fourth place was another diesel, 1964-built Class 47 Co-Co D1598/47471, whose Norman Tunna G.C. nameplate went for £4800. Tunna (1908-70) was a shunter at Birkenhead Docks who was awarded the George Cross – the only GWR employee to ever receive the honour – for heroism during an air raid in January 1941.
Station totem signs, currently a star category in nearly every railwayana auction, lived up to their ever-growing reputation thanks to two of their number reaching the £4000 mark, led by Scottish Region pair Tyndrum Upper (£4300) and Boat of Garten (£4000). The other five regions also made their mark – Sidmouth Junction from the Southern Region (£3100), BR(W) Gwinear Road (£2400), BR(M) Arnside (£2100), Walker Gate from the North Eastern Region (£1800), and BR(E) Felixstowe Town (£1700).
Heading the cabside numberplates was 103 from a Northern Counties Committee of Ireland W class 2-6-0 named Thomas Somerset after the chairman of the NCC board of directors (£3000). The 5ft 3in gauge railway was owned by the LMS, and H P Stewart, the railway's chief mechanical engineer, was allowed to use LMS designs and parts when designing the class.
Other locomotive items included a 1957 English Electric worksplate from Class 20 D8012/20012 (£1750), and smokebox numberplate 1463 from a GWR 0-4-2T (£1250), while top handlamp at £3000 was a Cambrian Railways' example stamped Llangynog. The terminus of the Tanat Valley line, west of Oswestry, lost its passenger services in 1951, followed by freight in 1952. The section between Llangynog and Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant was lifted in 1957.
Other realisations were £3400 for a London & Birmingham Railway policeman's tipstaff and £2100 for the leading clock. The former was contained in its original wooden case and was inscribed with the company's full title, and the clock was a 14in dial dropcase example supplied to the South Eastern Railway in circa 1840 and was stamped SER 1 on the back.
Also into four figures were a Marlborough-Ogbourne single line key token from the Midland & South Western Junction Railway's Cheltenham-Andover line (£1600), and five London & Croydon Railway directors'passes sold as a single lot with two LBSCR directors' passes (£1200). Prices exclude buyer's premium of 15% (+ VAT).
Of the 2021 railwayana auction scene and the prices achieved in the sale, Great Central auctioneer and director Mike Soden said: “Totems are currently amazing, and there has been a tremendous upsurge in a short time in this sector. Interestingly, it's not all down to new collectors who are attracted by live online bidding.
“There is, though, also a younger audience and a lot of people who are new to the railwayana movement or new to auctions.”