‘Your latest railwayana purchase will be on its way to you in a jiffy’

FROM monthly live online auctions to a procession of internet sales spread over days or even weeks, railwayana enthusiasts have never had such plentiful, regular, and diverse opportunities to boost their collection.

And now Great Central has come up with another variation on the theme, based on the humble Jiffy bag. Quite simply, every one of the 500 lots that will be going under Mike Soden’s hammer in a live online auction on February 19 must be capable of being posted to the successful bidder in such a bag.

Happy medium

To those of us who aren’t knowledgeable about such matters, that might seem to limit items to the very smallest, but Jiffy bags are available in sizes up to 442 mm x 661mm (in old money that’s just over 17in x 26in), so even some medium-sized items will be eligible.

The auction, which will start at 9am and is at present expected to be a one-off, will include such railwayana as single-line keys, medals, directors’ passes, and handlamps, and shed, wagon, and works plates. Some will carry a reserve, and commission (but not telephone) bids will be accepted.

This will the third variation on Great Central’s railwayana auctions theme, with football enthusiast Mike categorising the monthly 200-lot sale as being in the Premier League, the new-style ‘Jiffy’ sale in the Championship, and the ‘Bloxham’ events in Division 1.