Nameplate auction

A COLLECTION of nameplates and smokebox numbers, including many amassed from LMS ‘Jubilee’ class locomotives, will be auctioned at Crewe Heritage Centre next month. Railwayana Auctions UK says it has had strong interest in the collection, which has an estimated worth of more than £250,000. Quietly acquired during the last days of steam operation on British Rail by Kenneth Phillips, a former locomotive fireman at New England shed in Peterborough, it includes 16 nameplates, 20 ‘Jubilee’ smokebox numberplates and examples from other locomotives, 24 shedcode plates and express headboards. The auction will take place from September 1012, with proceeds from a £5 admission fee going to CHC.