Talisman announces return to saleroom railwayana auction

TALISMAN Railwayana has become the first mainstream specialist auction house to announce plans to return to live audience sales following a near two-year absence due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Nottinghamshire-based company, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, has run a series of telephone auctions during the lockdowns, the most recent of which was last month. But director Roger Phipps has announced plans to run a live saleroom sale at Newark Showground next March.

Social scene

“My wife Sandra and I have recently tested the water by attending other recent events at the showground that were open to the public, and we are quite happy to go ahead there with our next sale,” he said.

“It was our regular venue pre-Covid and it is a spacious room, which is important. Sandra and I will share the auctioneering and we can't wait.”

With the social aspect of live auctions being important to many collectors, the sale will provide an opportunity for friendships to be renewed, and railwayana dealers will once again be able to have their memorabilia on display.

The auction, which is being held on March 26, will be a Lincolnshirethemed event, although railwayana from other regions will also be going under the hammer.

Roger had planned to hold the sale last October to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the closure of the East Lincolnshire Boston-Grimsby line, a major railway link, but it was called off due to the pandemic.

In the wake of Talisman's decision to return to a live saleroom sale next year, other leading railwayana auction houses have told Heritage Railway of their thoughts about following suit.

Mike Soden, of Great Central, said: “At the moment our plans are that we will continue with our monthly live online sales, which are working well and are popular with collectors.

“We do, however, recognise that the live saleroom auctions are missed by many, due in part to the social side of these events, and I could see a possibility that in 2022 we would hold a mixture of live saleroom and live online auctions.”

He said that pre-Covid, Great Central's quarterly main sales at Stoneleigh Park regularly attracted audiences of up to 600 people, but added: “Due to the expense of hiring a venue, it would not be cost effective if we went ahead and only 100 or so collectors attended.”

He also said that the company was not committing itself to returning to Stoneleigh if and when live saleroom sales returned.

Cautious optimism

GW Railwayana's Simon Turner was cautiously optimistic that he would hold at least one live audience sale next year, possibly at his previous regular venue of Pershore High School.

“I haven't spoken to the school yet but I would like our July auction to be live, while our other two next year would probably be live online,” he said. “It will be interesting to see the turnout at Roger's auction in March.

“There are two camps – collectors who can't wait to return and others who would be wary of doing so – and having a mixture throughout the year should make everyone happy.

“But it is an ever-changing picture and I will be flexible. I wouldn't want to misread the signs and get it wrong, one way or the other.”

Dave Robinson, of Great Northern Railwayana, emerged as perhaps the most cautious of those who spoke to Heritage Railway: “The Government says one thing and the scientists something else, so I am not planning too far ahead as people are still nervous.

“We would go back live only when everyone feels comfortable, and until then we will continue to conduct them via our website. Our first auction next year will be in April, which would be our first opportunity for a live audience, but at the moment it's only 50-50.”

➜ Geoff Courtney's Railwayana column is on pages 68-70

TALISMAN RAILWAYANA Left: An LNER ‘Skegness is so bracing’ poster depicting the resort’s iconic Jolly Fisherman will be going under the hammer at a Talisman Railwayana Lincolnshire-themed auction next March. The poster was first issued by the Great Northern Railway in 1908 and was painted by John Hassall, who was paid 12 guineas for the work.

TRANSPORT TREASURY/NEVILLE STEAD COLLECTION Action station: Skegness is a hive of activity as three B1 class 4-6-0s and a J39 class 0-6-0 await departure. The photograph is undated but No. 61112 has a 40A Lincoln shedplate, indicating a possible date of 1952/53, when the B1 was shedded there. This engine, and what is believed to be No. 64827 next to it, both sport excursion reporting numbers, possibly for trains to Lincoln and Nottingham respectively, while beside the station’s running-in board, No. 61138 also has a reporting number and may be at the head of a train for York. On the far right, No. 61110 was allocated to Ardsley (37A) from 1952, so may be on a West Riding excursion. Skegness station opened in July 1873 and is still open today, handling a third of a million passengers annually, and will be a core theme of a Talisman Railwayana auction.

Above: Pointing the way: A Firsby & Skegness wooden direction sign that will feature in a Lincolnshire-themed live saleroom railwayana auction next March. It is believed to be from Woodhall Junction station, which opened on the LincolnBoston line as Kirkstead in October 1848, was renamed in July 1922, and was closed by BR in October 1970. TALISMAN RAILWAYANA