Sudden death of auction house boss shocks railwayana movement

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By Geoff Courtney

THE world of railwayana is reeling from the sudden death of auction house principal Nigel Maddock, who died from a heart attack on June 28, only 11 days after his summer auction. He was 59.

Nigel ran Solent Railwayana, which he took over from founder Alan Tonks 14 years ago. He was one of railwayana’s genuine nice guys, a person who was universally liked and about whom nobody had a single bad word.

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He always seemed calm – laid-back even – was trustworthy, and invariably had time for a chat.

I had been in email contact with him after his June 17 sale, and his wife Mariella told me that Nigel was “not too well at the moment,” and that she would send me his thoughts on the auction, which she duly did. Two days later he passed away.

Apart from running Solent Railwayana, Nigel’s ‘day job’ was part-time admin manager at a Renault garage near his Locks Heath home.

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Such was his popularity and the warmth felt towards him that many within the railwayana circle paid tributes to Nigel, and one of those was GW Railwayana’s Simon Turner, who said: “He was a gentle man in every respect. He was always humble enough to seek advice, and had a very dry sense of humour. Just a nice person who saw the good in everyone.”

Read more in Issue 231 of HR – on sale now!


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