Steam returns to the top of the monthly podium as diesels concede victory

THANKS to Queen Maud from LMS Princess Royal No. 46211, which went under Mike Soden's hammer for £14,200, steam took top spot in Great Central's monthly sale on June 12 after two successive victories for diesel motive power.

It was the second highest realisation achieved in the five monthly sales to date, and helped make amends for the steam generation after successive winner's laurels for Druid from D815 in April's auction (£9800) and Western Ruler from D1050 in May (£12,000).

A second steam nameplate, Donnington Castle from GWR No. 4089, failed to sell, allowing diesel traction to take the two remaining nameplate podium places, headed by Ben More Assynt from Brush 1992-built Class 60 No. 60099, named after a 3274ft high Scottish mountain (£4900), and The Cardiff Rod Mill, carried initially from 1984 by English Electric Class 37 No. 37229, which entered traffic in 1964 as D6929, and subsequently by three other locomotives (£3000).

The effervescent totem category maintained its current buoyancy with a geographical spread that included BR(NE) Menston (£3600), Western Region Stratford-upon-Avon (£2600), and a trio at £1800 – BR(M) Edale, BR(Sc) Grantown-on-Spey West, and Eastern Region's Sandy.

A painting by Gerald Broom of a twocoach steam train crossing Appersett Viaduct in the Yorkshire Dales exceeded its middle estimate nearly seven-fold when realising £3300, a whistle from an unidentified Bulleid Pacific made £2000, and a GWR 14in dial drop case wall clock, £1600.

Signalling was led by two Tyer's singleline brass tablets, Glenoglehead-Killin Jcn and Droxford-West Meon at £1850 and £1600 respectively, and worksplates by a 1963 English Electric/Stephenson Works example from Class 37 D6888/37188, which carried the name Jimmy Shand between 1985-89 (£1550).

Other worksplates included 1965 BR Doncaster from Class 86 electric loco E3123/86015 that was named Rotary

International between 1984-2005 (£1250), and a 1918 Peckett & Sons (works No. 1522) from GWR No. 1145, a former Swansea Harbour Trust 0-4-0ST that survived into BR ownership before withdrawal from Danygraig (87C) in July 1959 (£1200). Prices exclude buyer's premium of 15% (+ VAT).