With no Premier League heavyweight in the mix, the nameplate category at Great Central’s March 4 auction at Stoneleigh looked on paper to be a close call for top honours. And so it proved, with the leading three being less than £3000 apart, followed by another batch of three snapping at their heels
Pride of place went to Iron Duke from Britannia No. 70014, which came in at £15,500. The Standard Pacific, named after the 1st Duke of Wellington, one of Britain’s leading 19th century military figures, was built at Crewe in June 1951 and became a regular on the Southern Region’s ‘Golden Arrow’ express.
Behind came GWR pair Earl of Ducie, which was initially carried by Dukedog No. 3211 and subsequently by Castle class No. 5054 (£13,600), and Lady of Lyons (Saint 4-6-0 No. 2903), a previously unknown survivor that sold for £12,600.
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Three more five-figure realisations were The Prince of Wales’s Volunteers South Lancashire and Swiftsure from LMS duo Royal Scot No. 46137 and Jubilee No. 45716 (£11,200 and £10,500 respectively), and The Bedale from LNER D49 No. 62740 (£10,200). Nameplate Airborne from LNER A2 No. 60511 failed to sell under the hammer but had gone by close of play for £11,000.
Read more in Issue 227 of HR – on sale now!
