Notes

If you are new to the hobby and are confused by the jargon below, visit the Primer. 

My comments have a loco artifact related bias.  These notes are not intended to provide a full list of prices at the auctions covered. As the results for most auctions are all now available on the relevant website soon afterwards, there is little point in just recording prices here, so comments are generally restricted to those items whose price or other aspects which are IMHO particularly noteworthy.   My comments on prices tend to be based on relatives rather than absolutes. Any views on price are purely my own and readers should form their own judgment.

There seems to be a lot of liquidity in the sub-£3,000 bracket, illustrated by keen bidding for totems, smokebox numberplates and signalling equipment. Mainline steam nameplates are stratified into run-of-the-mill, where prices are weak but appear to have found a bottom (but the reserves have not necessarily caught up), and the glamour plates where prices can be anything between £20-60k, but the number of bidders at the upper end is limited.

I get the feeling that there are too many auctions for the available supply of material, and the established auction houses may be better served by reducing the number of lots and maintaining quality, and/or reducing the frequency of auctions.

Any comments/queries to 

Auction Reports

Auction Summary - GWRA Pershore 10 May 2008 and others

It is some time since I put up a report. This is partly because of lack of time, partly due to there being so many auctions, and partly due to (IMHO) not terribly interesting results. Pershore was interesting as with the second part of an impressive collection of nameplates from a deceased estate passing through, there was a lot to take note of. Being an estate, the artifacts just had to be sold, so it may be that there were no reserves.

Nameplates According to my records, there have been 38 mainline UK steam loco nameplates at auction since 1 January, which I guess is a lot by historical standards. When the market tanked in 1993, there were fewer auctions and the main effect was the drying up of supply. That has not happened this time although one person is apparently propping up prices for a range of items, not just nameplates, so imagine what it would be like without his bid. Of the 38 plates, seven were unsold (at the time I noted the results). It is fair to say that there were very few (none) heavy hitters in this 38. Prices one has to say were generally weak but within that generalisation, A1 plates seem to be surprisingly expensive, and Halls have held firm at the sort of £6-7,000 established in the last couple of years. Fallen angels are the Arthurs and Jubilees, although again, having the "right" name has a lot to do with it. Arthurs are appearing with great regularity but the absence of the plates from pre-1926 locos (these generally have more famous or evocative names rather than being named after obscure knights with even more obscure spellings) continues. I wonder why? Sir Durnore at Pershore made a less than chivalrous £5,000, Sir Sagramore made £8,000 at Stafford and the same for Sir Torre (one of the less inspiring pre-1926 names) at Sheffield. Among the Joobs, Camperdown did not sell at railwayana.net, Ontario made a robust £10,000 at Stafford, but Zanzibar was a big surprise at Pershore, making just £6,700. The other side (I assume) sold in September 2002 for £17,100.

Castles have, shall we say, found a new level, in a sort of £12,000+ range. "Earl of Birkenhead" made £16,500 at Pershore, not bad, as Earls are not everyone's cup of tea due to the different centres of the radii of the nameplate part and the bottom edge of the backplate. "Earl of Ducie", which was a rather more celebrated loco, made £12,000 at Stoneleigh. Cranbrook Castle, having had a sojourn on the Sheffield for sale page, made £15,000 complete with cabside. Again, the name (and the loco)  is everything. West Countries remain solid and the surprising strength of A1s has been noted.

Having said all that, I think it is wrong to assume that the market is a finite pool of cash and the punters in the hall are the universe of bids. The very act of buying a nameplate is capricious - hardly an essential of life - and were auctioneers to go out of their way to get the sale - e.g. sending photos and actively soliciting bids in advance as a certain auctioneer did in his heyday - I think there are other bids out there. I noticed that one or two items at Pershore (not nameplates) appeared to have been sourced from ebay. It is a mistake however to think that arbitraging from ebay to an auction is a no-brainer. Some things do sell better on ebay, but there are undoubtedly successful arbitrages to be had from time to time.

Loco whistles There have been two A4 whistles in the last few weeks. That from Kingfisher, complete with finial, made £3,650 at railwayana.net. That from Lord Faringdon (no finial) made £5,200 at Pershore. There is a general concern with A4 and Britannia chimes as they seem to be more or less standard Crosby chimes with little way of authenticating them. Thus trying to establish some provenance is very important. I would be helpful if one of the auctioneers could try to construct a record of where the various A4 whistles are. The whistle from A3 "Blink Bonny" fell to £700, from £1,350 at its previous outing in December 2006.

Worksplates There was a very early Nasmyth Wilson plate at Pershore, No 199 of 1878, repatriated from Aus, which pre-dates anything else I have seen by 14 years. It made £2,200. The LNER engraved plate from early diesel shunter 15002 made a deserved £2,600. The £8,400 which the worksplate of A2 "Steady Aim" fetched at Stoneleigh in April was notable.

Signalbox boards continue patchy. "Arenig Signal Box" made £1,450 at Stafford, a gem for someone's collection. Another GWR plate "Heathfield Signal Box" made £2,150 at Pershore, about four times the price eight years ago.

Great Central, Stoneleigh 19 January 2008 results are here

The auction, apparently very well attended, rather confirmed the difficulty of extrapolating any particular direction for the market as a whole. What to make for instance of bidding A1 “Meg Merrilies” up to £25,000 when the same (or other side), in unrestored condition, fetched £17,000 in September 2007? Straight “County of Stafford” made just £13,500, vs £24,650 for “County of Oxford” in April last year. Is the RHS plate that much more desirable? B1 “Nilghai” made a robust £9,600, especially remarkable for an unremarkable antelope and a difficult name to pronounce. “West Country” “Braunton” and scroll made £14,000, about par and possibly helped in this case by being an extant loco.

Smokeboxes were generally buoyant but helped by some reasonable quality plates, 60028 at £5,500, 60093 £3,400 (a record for A3s not numbered 60103) , 60115 (from the aforementioned Meg), a new record for an A1 at £4,600,

In worksplates, the Hudswell Clarke / RSH 1952 plate from a Pannier seemed expensive at £2,100. A GNR engraved plate from a J6 seemed very good value at £480.

There was a good showing in classic traction. The BTH plate from a Class 15 made a new class record at £980. “Warship” “Druid” nameplate made a respectable £6,400 and Class 47 “Thor” (an original plate), £4,800. The English Electric worksplate off E3100 made a hefty £1,050.

“Fenny Compton” made a new record for an LMS “Hawkseye”, at £2,800. Good to see that GCRA has reverted to using the “Hawkseye” term. If only they would record the numbers of signalling tablets in the catalogue…..

Talking of which, tokens and tablets are all over the place. This truly seems to be an impulse buy area. A token “Evercreech Junc North -  Glastonbury and Street” made an amazing £3,300.

Sheffield 15 December 2007 results are here

General impression seems to confirm the weak-ish market, although care should be taken in extrapolating any particular trend or level across the whole market. 

Nameplates. "Clans" remain uncommon. "Clan Mackintosh" was only the third such plate to appear, and the first for four years, and made a respectable £21,000. D49 "Hunt" "The Hurworth" made £17,000, not bad in this market for a plate with a replacement fox. "Oakley Grange" and cabside did very poorly, making just £9,000. If one assumes a conservative £2,000 for the cabside, this assumes £7,000 for the nameplate, no better than a "Hall". "Jubilees" surprisingly are proving to be quite resilient in this market, "Hyderabad" making a solid £11,600 here. Herewith a graph of prices since 2000 with a moving average trendline, showing a fairly gradual decline (I have excluded "Prince Edward Island" as this has a distorting effect). The blip in 2002 was "Zanzibar", which appears to be coming up for auction again in 2008 - not many opportunities to buy an LMS plate with a "Z"! 

Time was when Sheffield would have been a bit reluctant to allocate one of its half dozen nameplate slots to a humble Hall. However, in what I assume is a reflection in the shortage of plates in the current market (presumably buyers are not rushing to sell at today's prices), "Heatherden Hall" and cabside was on sale and made £9,100. "Battle of Britain" "Manston" and crest, has sold before, albeit back in 1994 when it made £12.100. It failed to sell here, presumably due to an over-optimistic reserve. As a dispassionate observer, this would not be my must-have BB and perhaps others thought the same.

Smokeboxes were mixed but generally good. "Joob" 45698 made £3,000, but 77019 just £500. The first D49 plate to appear, 62734, made a modest £750 although it had been welded. M7 30022 selling for the second time made a new class record at £1,400 but £950 does not look excessive for 30087, the first B4 to appear. 41532 made a record for this small class at £980. 84019 made £2,200, not far short of the record for the class.

Worksplates were rather humdrum with a few exceptions. An 1891 Robert Stephenson engraved plate was rather nice and £2,550 does not seem demanding. Following the excitement of the plate from 60004 at Stafford, that from 60006 was dragged up to £10,200, somewhat surprising, as the LNER had been filled in and this is the third time it has appeared, most recently in April this year.

Overseas. There were a number of SAR cabsides. Of note was £800 for an "S" and £720 for an S1, both huge new records, but only £340 for a 19C. An 8B, the first to appear, made £400. 

Classic Traction. Ex-loco Class 47 "Colossus" fell to £3,500 compared with £5,000 at its previous outing in 2004. Class 60 plates remain fickle, "Scafell" selling (for £2,000) but "Great Whernside" not. "Ex-loco "Vulcan Enterprise" from a 37/9 made £2,720.

Other. BR enamel station direction signs continue to be sought after but still offer good value compared with many totems.

GWRA Pershore 24 November 2007 (results are here)

The impressive selection of nameplates on offer had caused quite a stir in the market when first announced. In some ways this was a bold move, as it is generally acknowledged that the market is not that deep and glutting the market is likely to depress prices, hence the rather miserly dribble of plates that Sheffield puts into each auction. My overall impression is that prices were not that great, with the exception of "Nottingham Forest". 

LNWR Precursor "Thunderbolt" was a very nice name. Precursors ain't that common, and as a class, they tended to have the best names. It realised £11,800 which, if you include buyer's premium, is a class record. A1 "Great Eastern" was the first crested A1 plate to come to auction and I thought was rather disappointing at £19,000. "Battle of Britains" are usually sought after and "219 Squadron" had a good badge and motto. The £22,500 it realised was very poor - is there an explanation? I had assumed a minimum of £30,000. Star of the show was B17 "Nottingham Forest" complete with football, which made £43,000. "Footballers" are actually very rare at auction. A number of plates are with the clubs and some have replacement balls, so original sets are not plentiful, but this one was a bit over-restored for some tastes. "Taunton Castle" and cabside 7036 was a very nice set and £18,900 is not a bad price in today's market, as the BR Castles are eschewed by GWR diehards. "Royal Scot", "The Artists' Rifleman" made a poor £12,000, barely more than a "Jubilee". Finally "West Country" "Budleigh Salterton", with shield and scroll made £21,000, again very moderate. The crest of "Bude" alone made £19,000 in 2006.  In the midst of this plenty, GWRA managed to stick in a "Hall", "Westwood Hall" and cabside, which made a respectable £10,100. A kingfisher plaque from the eponymous A4 made £4,600.

Other items of note were the small bronze framed LT roundel for "Cannon Street", This size and design of station name is the most sought after LT artifact and (from my limited data) is a record price. "St Johns Wood" made the same in the recent railwayana.net auction. An uncommon Drewry worksplate of 1941 made £330. A "Merchant Navy" whistle from 35025 sold for £2,600, and was so complete that the buyer ended up with quite a lot of the locomotive. The Starbuck Tramway builders plate was very uncommon and £60 seems a bit of an aberration.

GCRA, Stoneleigh 6 October 2007

A bit of a curate's egg. Plenty of reasonable quality items but lacking a bit of oomph.

There was a very limited selection of nameplates, only one mainline steam plate. As Singapore Airlines leads its advertising with its first class offering, so auctions rightly or wrongly are judged by the nameplates on offer. Armed with buyer's premium, an auction house can easily offer no-commission deals to vendors, and it is difficult to believe that no one wants any cash for their nameplates at the moment. The one mainline steam plate was GWR "Saint" "Charles J Hambro", which did not appeal, despite the rareness of the letter "J" in GWR plates. It failed to sell even at the modest reserve of £6,000. 

WR Cabsides. Dean Goods 2396 made £3,900, which appears to be a record for one from this class. "GWR" pre-fixed 795 made £2,300.

Worksplates. A 9x5 from a GER tram loco, selling for the second time,  made £1,200. £620 is unusually pricey for a B1 Vulcan Foundry plate.

Smokeboxes. 69105 was the first N10 smokebox I have noted at auction and £450 does not sound very demanding. Royal Scot 46155 made £2,700. 

Classic traction. Class 40 nameplate "Scythia" rose to £6,100 on its second outing despite the impressive score mark. The NBL plate from early Warship D603, made £3,100, surprisingly slightly less than the plate from D833 made in July. Nameplate "Leviathan", from a Class 50, and ex-loco, made £3,250, which is the lowest price I have seen for one of these.

Signalling. The potential for prices to collapse between the first token/tablet/staff to emerge for a section and the next continues to be well illustrated. A Barnstaple Junc-Barnstaple Town tablet made £1,250 here, compared with £3,300 12 months previously. Having said that, "Littleham - Budleigh Salterton" did the opposite and rose to £720. Tyers key token instruments continue to be popular and one here made £1,500.

In totems, "Evercreech Junction" made £9,600. There are a lot of quality totems emerging and demand is very robust for the top end, but I sense prices are weak for more mundane offerings.

In overseas items, New Zealand cabside AB 758 made £720, which is a record for any NZ cabside according to my limited data.

Stafford 29 September 2007 results are here

Stafford is not so well know as some of the more established auctions but seems to have a viable model by holding two auctions a year, which offer some very good quality items, rather than go for more lots/auctions and be forced to fill up the catalogue with items which would sell better on ebay. There were a number of fta totems and it is noticeable also how tokens rebounded after a dismal showing at Sheffield. There were several ex-loco WR cabsides with their sacks as delivered from Swindon which sold well. Note that there is no buyer's premium here and Stafford's other USP is that it displays reasonable quality (in some cases, good) images of all the lots, which makes it stand out from most other auctions, who have not really come into the internet age. 

Star of the show was a worksplate from A4 60004, which made an astonishing £21,000. The other side sold for £4,800 in 2001.

Nameplates. A good selection if nothing quite out of the top drawer. Ex-loco Brit "Robert Burns" made £17,700, which is not that far short of the record set by "Solway Firth". A nice plate but strange that two plates which would probably not make too many collectors' list of top five Brits should hold the honours. B17 "Milton" did better than I would have expected at £8,400. K2 "Loch Laggan" however performed miserably at just £7,500. Surely K2s are worth more than this? 2003, when two K2s made £17k or above, seems a long time ago. £8,000 was hardly demanding for a "Grange, and "Hardwick Grange" is not a bad name. 

key tokens were generally well contested. "Stourport on Severn N - Bewdley South" is the first such I have noted, which made £480. "Criccieth - Afon Wen" managed £75 in Sheffield and £190 here. "Borth - Llandre" made four times what it did two years previously, at £250. I thought "Llanbrynmair - Cemmes Road" might have done better than £300 though, as I have not recorded one in auction before.

There were a number of South African cabsides from diesel and electric locos in ex-loco condition.

Sheffield 15 September 2007 results are here

A new venue (Derbyshire County Cricket Club) and a new buyer's premium (10%). General impression was that this was not Sheffield's best bill of fare, and there seemed to be an unusually large number of unsold lots by Sheffield standards. Prices quoted here, as for other auctions, are shown exclusive of BP.

The slate of nameplates was not bad, but possibly at the expense of unrealistic reserves? B17 "The Essex Regiment", no doubt helped by the ability to marry it up with its badge, made a creditable £15,000. GWR "Star" "Princess Mary" made £12,000. Early GWR plates are difficult to forecast and it is difficult to say if this is cheap or expensive. "Jubilee" "Neptune", a Corkerhill loco and an early withdrawal, made £8,800. A1 "Meg Merrilies" was in some ways the star of the show, making £17,000. West Country "Saunton" and scroll failed to sell, as did A4 "Sir Ralph Wedgwood", although I understand a sale of the latter was concluded later at £25,000. Despite the attempt to puff it up in the catalogue, I can't imagine many who were not trainspotters at the time, and who cannot recite all the A4 names by heart, being smitten with this name. Names of men in suits just don't sell well. "Sir Persant" also failed to sell. This is not a particularly noteworthy character in Arthurian legend, nor would its brevity appeal to those enthusiasts who like to buy their Arthurs by the pound and don't mind the obscurity of the knight in question. 

WR cabsides. According to my records 4401 was the first 44xx to appear in auction and made a hefty £4,900. Castle 4097 achieved the unusual distinction of not selling for the second time at auction, having been offered through Kidlington a couple of years previously.

Smokebox numberplates. This sector seems to be bucking the trend and seemed generally robust. Jubilee 45667, a Midland mainline loco, made £2,800. West Country 34042, selling for the second time at Sheffield, made £3,300. 30837 made a new record for an S15 at £1,150. 72006 made a new record for a "Clan" at £3,600. Yet another "Britannia" appeared, 70050, which made £2,800. The surprise of the day in this category was B1 61369 which made £1,100, which is a record for a non-named B1. 41712, which has sold before, rose to £950.

Worksplates were a bit subdued. I was surprised the very nice engraved plate with "rebuilt" strip from K1 "MacCailin Mor" did not make more than £2,600. I thought it might go for double this amount. The LMS plate from 41528 was also a bit of a rarity (the only Derby 1907 plate to have appeared, only one from this class etc), and ex-loco, and £300 seems undemanding. The LMS Stoke 1921 plate may be the same one that sold at Lytham many years ago. Certainly very rare. It made £850. A Beyer Peacock plate from an LMS Garratt sold for £1,450, less than half of what they were fetching at the peak.  

Classic traction. Deltic nameplate "The Green Howards", a brass plate, was appearing for the second time and struggled to sell, having made £25,000 on its first outing. NBL plates from "Warships" continue to be popular with that from D840 making £2,550 here.

Other items. I thought the "Hawkseye" from Millers Dale might have made more than £850. This seems very modest for such an evocative location.

Overseas items. The SAR 19D 3363 cabside was the first 33XX to appear and made £800, a record for a 19D. 2659 made a more usual £250. A third plate, 3338, had unusual narrow numbers and was less appealing, making £270. An ALCO worksplate and its matching USATC plate from a Thai MacArthur went very cheaply at £150 each.

Great Central 14 July 2007 results are here

Quality was OK but little stood out from the routine, as perhaps witness the length of this report, but perhaps I am getting lazy. I think reverting to four auctions per annum may be a struggle. 

Mainline steam Nameplates were in short supply. Early GWR plates do not appeal to many but "Earl Cawdor" from a "Badminton" made a respectable £16,500. This is a section of the nameplate market which holds a lot of potential, as there are some great names out there. The obligatory Hall, "Wolseley Hall" this time, failed to sell. I think such plates may be better sold privately.

Smokebox numberplates from the small class of Crosti fitted 9Fs are rare and 92028 here made £1,450. 31634 made a new record for a "U" at £1,100.

Classic Traction. NBL plate4s from Warships are rarer than you would expect. That from D833, only the third to appear according to my records, made £3,200, which makes it the third most expensive diesel plate. The damaged NBL plate from D601 Ark Royal made £2,510 on ebay last month.

Signalling. As expected, the BR green enamel box board from Midford on the S&D made big money, £3,800 in fact, which is a new record for a boxboard. A Kings Cross enamel board, in three sections making 20 feet in total, looked more like a running-in board that just happened to be clagged to the signal box. It made £1,100. A "Delabole - Port Isaac Road" tablet rose 150% to £1,050 from the last appearance of one of these in April, presumably because this one was not stamped "out of use". A Railway Signalling Company key token for Broom Nth - Alcester made a stiff £1,600.

Direction signs. I thought "Bath Spa" was slightly disappointing at £1,950.

Irish. I thought the £250 for the enamel station sign from Madore modest. 

Overseas. Appearing for the first time at auction according to my records were cabsides from Class 36 and 37 SAR diesels, both ex-loco. Both made £170.

Sheffield 16 June 2007 results are here

A lot of Irish material in this auction, but it is noticeable that (G)WR cabsides and signalbox nameboards have both dwindled to a handful of items.

Nameplates. LNWR "Baltic" made an impressive £17,000, only the third "Claughton" to have appeared. B17 "East Anglian" made a modest £7,000. An RAF badge from a "Battle of Britain" made £8,100, somewhat down on the recent example last year. Isle of Wight "Alverstone" made £8,100, the lowest price since 2000. A3 "Robert the Devil" made £15,300, not bad for an A3? Standard Class 5 "Linette" made £5,800, not bad. Star billing was for Merchant Navy "Elder-Dempster Lines". The condition of the enamel in the centre is important when buying these plates, and according to the catalogue description, the one here had been repainted. In the circumstances, £28,500 was not a bad price. 

Irish nameplate, "Lough Melvin", from one of the SLNCR 1949-built 0-6-4Ts, made £8,600 which must be a record for an Irish artifact.

Worksplates. A Doncaster engraved plate from 2-6-0 43062 was expensive at £720, although not a record for the class. One of the comparatively rare engraved "North Eastern Region" plates from an L1 made £1,550. The LNER engraved plate from A3 60060 had had the LNER filled in but still made £4,200. Beckton Works worksplates are exceedingly rare as they only built two locos, albeit numbered 30 and 31. No 31's made £2,400. No 865 of 1886 is the earliest Black Hawthorn plate I have noted at auction. It made a modest £1,000, the letters being quite worn, and this was of a smaller, less attractive design than previous plates. Engraved Neilson worksplates are very rare, and an 1891 plate from an industrial loco made £1,700. The LNER 9x5 from B1 "Chiru" had a spectacular fall in price, from £1,200 in January 2006 to £580 here.

A Nasmyth Wilson tenderplate from a GNR(I) loco made an impressive £820.

Smokebox numberplates. A4 60015 made a new smokebox record at £7,600. A4 plates remain very rare at auction.  Duchess are less rare but not prolific. 46250 was selling for the second time and rose to £4,600. No shortage of Britannia plates though and 70030, selling for the second time, surprisingly made a new record for the class at £3,600.  73087, from "Linette", made £1,300. Ex-loco 67600 made a new record for V1/V3s at £1,000.

In classic traction, Class 87 nameplate, "Earl Marischal", ex-loco, made £5,900. £460 is the highest price I have noted for a Darlington plate from a Class 25.

In totems, £2,800 for "Fort William" seems to be a major disappointment.

LMS Hawkseyes. "Hest Bank", appearing for the second time, made a new record for the category at £2,300.

In signalling, boxboards were disappointing but plenty of equipment. A Kimbolton & Huntingdon wooden staff and ticket box made £2,600. Sheffield has a complete run of Lynton & Barnstaple tablets going through, "Blackmore-Wooda Bay" making £2,400 here. The previous example at Pershore last November made £6,300, illustrating the dangers of bidding for the first to appear of an item of which a number may exist.  "Sidmouth Junc - Ottery St Mary" offered an even greater proportionate collapse at £200 (from £720 first time out). A Tyers No 6 tablet instrument made £300. An Achnasheen - Strathcarron 25" token, not common in auction, made £750. A "Dingwall - Garve 25" key token made £1,050. The word "North" is ground off from these. As the numbers imply, there may be at least 25 in circulation so buy with your eyes open at these prices. An LMS/Railway Signal Co token machine, not common at auction, made £2,900. The Lentran - Muir of Ord key token was interesting as there are also tablets for this section. It made £300. The second "Rose Street - Clachnaharry" tablet to appear in two months made £1,050 vs. £720 at GCRA.

Overseas items. A strength of Sheffield remains its foreign coverage. A Walkers 1909 plate from a PB15 (the earliest Walkers plate I have noted at auction) made £200. A Railway Works Ipswich plate from a C16, selling for a second time, rose to £520. Rogers plates are very rare, and the market for North American plates is really ebay. I have only noted one Rogers plate on ebay  though (photo below), which made USD2,660 a couple of years back. A similar plate here made £500, a sweet deal for the buyer.

A Chinese Dalian 1961 plate from a JS was mis-described as from a JF. Apart from the fact that JF production finished in around 1957, a JS plate, which is quite large, would not fit on a JF which had no flat surfaces. These were screwed to the "skyline" casing around the dome, sandbox and main steam pipe. The following photo shows an undated similar plate on JS 5593 at Tumen shed in 1998, plus a 1960 example. The plate here made a very modest £95.

The usual assortment of South African cabsides. Of note was 19C 2463, although to call it very rare (this is the fourth I have noted at auction) robs us of superlatives for 19As and Bs, only one of each having appeared. Nevertheless, I thought £700 not demanding for one of these pretty rotary cam valve geared locos. A US Army Transportation Corps plate from a Korean S160 made £300, its matching ALCO worksplate making £300 also. Splitting a lot in this way seems to be poor form, as the plates clearly belong together.

Great Central, Stoneleigh 28 April 2007 (results are here)

I suppose it is time to start referring to this auction as Great Central Railwayana Auctions, rather than Kidlington, as the link with Kidlington has finally been severed by the move to the new venue at Stoneleigh.

Nameplates. The inevitable Hall, "Arbury Hall" complete with cabside and smokebox, made £7,600. Allowing for BP and estimating a price for the numberplates, gives a price for the nameplate c. £6,500. A3 "Sunstar" was selling for the second time and fell from £14,200 in December 2001 to £10,000 here. LNWR "Mars", an Alfred the Great" a great treasure unearthed, made £8,000. Strangely, this is no less than the fifth "Alfred" to appear.  Ex-loco GWR "Frankton Grange" made £9,000, about par.

WR cabsides. GWR prefixed 2186 was the first ex B&M loco cabside to appear at auction and made £3,000.

Smokebox numberplates had a quiet day. £780 for "King Arthur" 30775 does not sound expensive.

Worksplates. A 9x5 from a Y4 was the first I have noted at auction and made £580. Lots of LBSC interest. A Rebuilt Brighton plate from a B4X made £4,000, a simple Brighton Works 1906 plate from a C3 £1,350 and a Southern cabside from a "Gladstone" £2,700. The Sharp Stewart plate from the B4X made £500, and was notable for being the highest number SS plate I have noted at auction by a wide margin (4777 of 1901) although SS continued until 1903 when it merged into NBL. Sentinel plates complete with knight are fairly rare at auction and I did not think the £600 for that from an LNER Y3 very expensive. The engraved plate (LNER filled in unfortunately) from A4 60006 was selling for the second time and rose to £5,800.

Classic traction. The market for artifacts from diesel and electric locos seems generally subdued at the moment, with prices having slipped back from there peak. A Crewe 1961 plate was surely mis-attributed to a Class 46, which had Brush rather than CP electrical equipment, and were built at Derby. I am also suspicious of a Crewe 1965 plate being attributed to D1846, which appears in the middle of a long run of Brush locos. An English Electric 1957 rectangular plate of less common design, from an industrial loco failed to sell. A 1961 plate from a Hudswell Clarke BR shunter D2510 made £940.

BR enamel direction signs are very popular at the moment and are emerging as a class which deserves more attention. I am not a huge totem fan, but I do like these direction signs which give more bang for the buck with miniature totem, arrow and station name. Rugby Central made £2,400, Dunstable Town Station £1,800, Victoria Station (Nottingham or Manchester?) £700, MIles Platting £540 and WIlmington (NE) £560.

Signalling. I note that GCRA has relegated a number of tokens/tablets to the postal auction, presumably the less choice ones. I am not sure why they do not note down in the description the number stamped on tablets - some may find it useful to see if this is one that is re-appearing.  A "Hatherleigh - Hole" tablet made £1,050. Meon Valley items remain rare and a Tisted - Alton tablet made £840. "Camelford - Port Isaac Road" seemed expensive at £900, as several have appeared. An Egloskerry - Tresmere tablet was the first I have noted and made £1,000.

Token/tablet prices are generally firm but prices for more common ones are all over the place - for interest, the above is a graph of Crianlarich - Dalmally, which shows no sort of consistency. I suppose for any low value items, the absolutes are always going to be more volatile.

GWR boxboard "Whiteball Siding Signal Box" made £1,600. A Midland Railway enamel board "Wigston North Junction" was uncommon and made £1,150. "Arrochar and Tarbet" from the West Highland line, an NBR or possibly LNER board, was unusual with the name on three lines and made £1,600. 

In cast iron, a "Bowes" LNER seatback from the Stainmore line made £1,150.

Other items. The flamecut cabside panel from 34017 made £2,000.

Overseas items. An Indian Railways HGS cabside No 26819 made £360.

Sheffield 10 March 2007

Nameplates. "Battle of Britain" sets are rare, as relatively few are in private ownership. "601 Squadron" in ex-loco condition, was a nice set, but disappointingly, it has one of the few crests without a motto. Nevertheless, £35,500 seems quite a healthy price.

A number of LNER plates.D49 "Forfarshire" made £8,200. A2/3 "Chamossaire" (with BR paperwork) made a huge £24,500. A4 "Kestrel" made £25,000, which sounds unexciting for an A4, but this was one which was renamed and arguably did well to make this figure, notwithstanding the rarity of such plates. GWR "Toddington Grange" made £10.800, about par for the market. "Jubilee" "Malta G.C." is a good name, and its Midland mainline background also helped to propel it up to £13,200.

WR Cabsides. 2941 made £2,600, which seems good relative value to a Hall.

Smokeboxes. 67666 was the first V1 I have noted at auction and might have done better than £640. Brit 70024 was appearing for the second time in six months and managed to lose £1,000 in price at £2,100. 31831 made a new record for an N at £1,000. The BR paperwork no doubt helped. 42799 set a new record for a Crab at £880. Jubilee 45656 made £2,700, another Midland mainline loco. I thought 8F 48073 might have done better than £480, as this was the Hornby-Dublo loco.

Worksplates. A GNR(I) Dundalk plate from an Irish P Class 4-4-0 was rather rare and made £680, not very demanding. Sharp Stewart 4697 of 1900 is the highest numbered SS plate I have noted at auction, from a SECR C class. It made £600. The Vulcan Foundry 1887 plate from an L&Y 0-6-0 made a huge new record for Vulcan plates, at £2,800. The previous highest was £1,000. The NB diamond worksplate No 23665 stated to be from 44486 was probably from 44496. This is sloppy cataloguing not a typo, as it gives the wrong history - 44496 seems to have been a long time Stoke loco. 

Classic traction. The worksplate from Hymek D7000 and its cabside numbers made £750, not a record for a worksplate alone.

Overseas items. The (ex-loco) SAR cabside from 24 3624 made a very low £280. Difficult to explain this one. A 12A cabside made £580, a record for the class. A 3R also made a record at £750. A 15A was the first noted at auction and made £550. £150 seems low for a cabside from SNCF 141R 916 based on track record. A Porter 1919 plate from a US 0-6-0T made a low £200. A Canadian Loco, which the buyer tells me is from an Indian WP 4-6-2 No 7611 (not a WG 2-8-2 as stated in the catalogue) made £500, a record for this mfr (at least in auctions I have noted, the same correspondent tells me that he is aware of higher prices). The Baldwin Lima Hamilton plate from a WG 2-8-2 made £380, a record also for this mfr. There has been a regular series of Japanese worksplates from Thai locos in the last few years. A Mihara rectangular plate from a 2-8-2 was appearing for the first time and made a relatively modest £200. 

Signalling. A Lynton & Barnstaple tablet made a predictably hefty £4,800. A very nice pair of Webb & Thompson miniature electric staff instruments made £1,625.

In other items, Pullman artifacts seem to have gone off the boil after the euphoria a couple of years back. The whistle from A3 60036 made £620. The regulator handle from Jubilee 45552 made a surprising £3,200. Just what you need for the living room. Regulator handles usually fetch £200 or so. ("that's nice dear, where are you going to put it?" or perhaps more realistically "You paid how much, for that??")

Kidlington 20 January 2007 (results are here)

This was the last auction at Kidlington, at least for the time being.  The April one will be at Stoneleigh, as they have outgrown the current venue.

Nameplates. One of the unusual cabside plaques from BB "Tangmere" sold for £13,200. This seems quite expensive relative to where one might expect the price of the nameplate to be. Perhaps the loco owner bought it? Standard 5, "Maid of Astolat" showed that not all plates from a class are born equal and rather confirmed my contention that the better Authurian names are not the obscure knights, but the more evocative names. In the middle of a rather depressed current market, it made a new class record, at £9,200, helped no doubt by being in ex-loco condition. The Standard 5s have posthumously become rather more celebrated than they were in service, partially perhaps to David Wardale using it as the basis of the proposed "5AT" - his recent paper on the project is here. Another "Hunt" here, "The Albrighton", a very nice length for a Hunt plate. This plate has sold before. The plate itself has a few knocks and the Fox looks like a replacement. It made £14,000. Another K2 Loch as well. "Loch Treig" did rather better than "Loch Oich" at Stafford, in fact it made twice as much at £12,000. The only two K2 plates that don't seem to have appeared so far are Loch Lomond and Loch Morar, both pretty good names. "Haroldstone Hall", with a longer backplate to accommodate this lengthy name, did not sell.

WR cabsides. The no. 5 plate from one of the Weston Clevedon and Portishead "Terriers" made £6,600. Somewhat of a rarity to say the least. 54xx plates are not that rare, but 5405 made a new class record at £1,350. Perhaps it was the Banbury connection? 61xx were at one stage rare but statistically this is no longer the case and we have now had two ex-loco specimens in the space of a month, 6117 making £1,000 here. "GWR" prefixed 75 made £3,600. How come so many of these absorbed loco plates are in ex-loco condition? Hall 4924 made £1,850.

Smokebox numberplates. 41528 made £680, the class leader and only the second such plate to appear. 62679 was the first D11/2 Scottish "Director" to appear and made a healthy £1,600. N1 31822 was also the first to appear - there were only six locos in total - and made £1,100. Ex-loco "Joob" 45635 made £2,550.

Worksplates don't come much better than the fully engraved plate from LNER No 1564 of 1923 - better known as "Flying Scotsman" of course. Once you have assured yourself it is not a "replacement plate", then the price could be anything. It made £16,000, but I am not sure that is expensive. Chapman & Furneaux plates are uncommon, but the one here, 1179 of 1899 had sold before in 2004, and managed to lose over 40% of its previous value, to £1,600. A Robert Stephenson plate from S&D 53809 made £1,900.

Classic traction. "Westerns" seem to be popular at the moment, "Western Viscount" and numberplate making £9,500 (ex-loco, Collectors Corner receipt). "Patriot", ex-loco, official receipt, from a Class 87 made £4,000 which seems rather disappointing to me compared with the prices these plates have previously made. Strange, it was a nice plate. Is it really nearly 30 years since the 87s were named? I remember seeing "Royal Scot" standing outside Euston prior to its naming ceremony, in the same position as that classic shot of 46245. Class 47 plate "Vulcan" made £3,500.

Signalling. Tablets seem to be very popular at the moment, and there seems to be a collection of NER boxboards going through. A train staff Criggion Loops / Criggion Station from the Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Railway was not a thing of beauty but sufficiently interesting historically to make £780.

Other items. A North Eastern Railway lamplighter was unusual and made £230.

Stafford 13 January 2007 (results (and images) are here)

One of the relative newcomers to the auction scene, but notable for putting decent images of each lot on its website. There was plenty of quality among the 320 lots and some revealing prices (or lack of). The more desirable and less common totems continue to make impressive prices (generally), with a new world record here for "Kyle of Lochalsh" at £11,000, while mainline steam nameplates continue to be weak absent special appeal.

Nameplates. D49 "The Garth" had star billing but failed to sell at its reserve of £20,000. The catalogue stated that the fox was original, but it looked to be a replacement in the photo, with very prominent fur. (a correspondent points out that the fox sold with "The York and Ainsty" in 2004 was ex- The Garth, but that one definitely looked the real thing). Coupled with a rather short, spaced-out, name, the effect was not very appealing, despite BR paperwork. Buying "Hunts" is very, very tricky, as many erstwhile owners will tell you, and if you are tempted to buy anything that is not totally right, it just nags and eventually will be on the exit list. Southern Atlantic "Peveril Point", withdrawn in 1944, also failed to sell. Plates such as this only appeal to quite a specialist sub-set of the market. Jubilee "Orion" was very disappointing at £6,000. Aesthetically the name is a bit short, not enhanced by bunching all the letters together. "Brit" "Moray Firth" made a respectable £14,200. Its smokebox numberplate made £2,000, slightly less than its last outing. K2 "Loch Oich", selling for the first time, made a feeble £6,000, a long way from the £17,600 for "Loch Rannoch" in 2003. Not quite as good a name of course. Loch Oich lies between Loch Lochy and Loch Ness in the Great Glen, near Invergarry.

Headboards. Having not had one before, another "The Devonian" appears one month after the first and at £2,000 made about 40% of the price.

WR Cabsides. 6114 made £1,050, some way short of the record.

Worksplates. LMS 1936 plates have a good chance of coming from a Joob, rather better than GWR whistles claimed to be from a King,  but prices have fluctuated wildly. The ex-loco one here made a robust £460, a restored one £320. £1,200 sounds a lot for a 9 x 5 from a J83 and perhaps the reason was that this had Sharp Stewart on the plate. Checking my records, I have only seen one other example.

Smokebox numberplates. B1 "namer" 61026 made £1,600

Classic Traction. Good "Western" sets are in demand, "Western Trooper" and cabside making £10,200. Warship "Valorous" made a record for the class, by a big margin, at £10,200. Nameplate "Conidae" made £3,500, probably a record for one of these rather esoteric Shell names. The Fowler plate from departmental ED2 increased the record for Fowler plates over five times, to £1,500.  Class 20 nameplate "Henry Pease" made a hefty £3,650.