Poetic justice as ‘Brit’ secures narrow win against the LNER

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A head-to-head battle between BR and the LNER ended in a narrow victory for the former at Great Northern’s April 7 auction at Poynton, with nameplate William Wordsworth from Britannia No. 70030 claiming a narrow victory at £12,500, closely pursued by Loch Lomond from K2 class 2-6-0 No. 61790 (£12,000).

Duchess of Kent from LMS Princess Royal No. 46212 didn’t sell on the day, and so too another LMS representative, Leinster from No. 45741, the penultimate Jubilee to be built, but flamecut Ellen Douglas from Eastfield Glasgow (65A) stalwart No. 62688 went for £850. However, Duchess of Kent did go to a new home in the days after the sale, for £16,000.

The standout non-nameplate realisation was £3200 for a cabside numberplate from GWR No. 6877 Llanfair Grange, some way ahead of the next best in the category, from another GWR 4-6-0, the linguistically-challenging No. 5942 Doldowlod Hall (£1550).

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Leading smokebox numberplates were 68516 from a J67 0-6-0 and 92220 from a Standard 9F Evening Star (£1650 and £1300 respectively), and the top worksplates were a 1928 LNER Darlington example from D49 No. 62723 Nottinghamshire (£1250) and an 1894 Kitson & Co from Cardiff Railway 0-6-2T No. 1 which featured in last month’s Heritage Railway (£1000).

Also at £1000 was the top totem, Clapham Junction, and close behind an O-gauge model of LMS Class 2P 4-4-0 No. 40700 (£980), and a pair of clocks from the Cambrian and Great Northern railways, each at £900.

It is also worth dwelling on a large selection of original Ian Allan ABC Combined Volumes dating from the 1940s, 50s and 60s, that went under the hammer for prices up to £320, the most expensive being the 1953 version. Oh, such memories, and such pain to recall that, once they had served their purpose to us trainspotters of the era, into the dustbin they went. Prices exclude buyer’s premium of 10%.

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“Very happy – prices were good, and our best-ever attendance,” was the verdict of Great Northern boss Dave Robinson. “We did well, and I’m more than pleased.”

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