NARROW GAUGE AT WAR
The contribution of smaller railways in the First World War
The plate from Gresley LNER ‘A4’ 4-6-2 No. 4484/60025 Falcon crept in just under its top estimate at a hammer price of £29,500 (to which buyer’s premium is added). There’s been a lot of talk among collectors about the fact that GCR has raised the buyer’s premium from 10% to 15% (12% and 18% inclusive of VAT, respectively). Judging by the number of bidders participating and the successful results in the latest sale on December 5, the company has nothing to worry about and it’s a matter of time before other auction companies follow suit. Some auction houses are maintaining their ‘still only 10%’ marketing ploy for now, but we will see. Remember the extra cost in your calculations when you plan to bid. In comparison to Falcon, other LNER offerings, The Fernie from ‘D49/2’ ‘Hunt’ No. 357/62762, cost £14,200, while Gainsborough from ‘A3’ No. 2597/60086 came in just above its lower estimate at £8,400. The next best nameplate price of the day went to GWR ‘Castle’ class Clifford Castle at £22,000, though it did come complete with its matching 5098 numberplate. Two LMS ‘namers’ made it to five figures, ‘Scot’ No. 46109 Royal Engineer at £13,000 and ‘Jube’ No. 45567 South Australia at £10,500. The top price paid for a smokebox numberplate was from a ‘Jube’, No. 45587 Baroda, that realised £1,900. Not too far behind was No. 31627 from a Southern Region ‘U’ 2-6-0, a longtime Guildford resident, raising £1,500. In the ‘highly desirable’ category has to be an original 1948 commemorative plaque, as designed by George Dow, that was fixed to ‘A4’ Mallard to mark its world speed record, that made £13,400. The two original plaques, together with the 60022 smokebox numberplate, were removed when BR withdrew the locomotive and restored it in LNER garter blue livery for displayed at Clapham Transport Museum. After being re-chromed, one plaque went to Gresley House, Doncaster, while the other (the one sold at Stoneleigh) went to a collector. Mallard now carries replicas. The Stoneleigh sale got off to a cracking start with Lot No. 1, a BR Standard Class chime whistle that sold for £1,150. These whistles were fitted to ‘Britannias’, ‘Clans’, Duke of Gloucester and the first 100 of the BR Class 5s, while some ended up as replacements on ‘A4s’. And how about a Chinese tender logo for £160? That was the final sale price of one item, believed to be from a ‘QJ’ locomotive on the JiTong Railway, Mongolia. The next GCRA auction at Stoneleigh is on March 5, while there is a general railwayana sale at Bloxham on February 20.
A HIGH water mark was established at the latest Great Central Railwayana Auction at Stoneleigh on December 5 - each letter on a six-character steam locomotive nameplate cost the equivalent of over £5,000.