GWR, BR and modern traction in Great Central head-to-head

THE GWR, BR and modern traction will all be represented in the upper reaches of Great Central's December 11 auction. From the first comes nameplate Hinton Manor, from the BR there is Iron Duke, and from the modern era an HST plate.

The Manor plate comes from No. 7819, which emerged from Swindon in February 1939, making it the last of the class to be built before the outbreak of the Second World War, and was withdrawn from Shrewsbury (6D) in November 1965 before being saved from Barry scrapyard.

Iron Duke is from Britannia Pacific No. 70014, a June 1951 Crewe product that spent its early days on the Southern Region working the ‘Golden Arrow,' a duty it shared with classmate No. 70004 William Shakespeare. It was withdrawn from Carlisle Kingmoor (12A) in December 1967.

Porterbrook is responsible for representing the modern era in the auction, with a selection of nameplates to raise funds for the Railway Children charity, one of which is Railway Children fighting for street children from HST125 power car No. 43082.

Headboard ‘The Waverley' will recall memories of a BR train that ran from June 1957 to September 1968 between London St Pancras and Edinburgh via Leeds and Carlisle, a route that included two iconic lines, the Settle & Carlisle and Waverley. Another much-loved line, the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway, will also feature, with an ex-Ivo Peters collection crossing gate or signalling lamp plated Radstock.

Also in the auction, which is Great Central's tenth monthly 200-lot live online sale, are a BR(W) Aberystwyth running-in board and a Western Region Fishguard Harbour station totem sign.

Auctioneer Mike Soden will start proceedings at 10am.