Country Images Magazine North March 2018 | Página 25

This page; top to bottom: Mersey nameplate from a small 0-4-0 industrial locomotive from Warrington: made £220 [GWRailwayana] ‘Hunt’ class nameplate from The Percy: £10,000 plus. [Railwayana] ‘King Arthur’ class Sir Durnore: £8,600 [Railwayana] Minoru – a sister engine to Flying Scotsman, £7,000. The horse was Edward VII’s Derby winner in 1909 but fell a victim to the Russian Revolution! [GW Railwayana] Nameplate from Gresley LNER B17 4-6-0 ‘Football’ class, Darlington probably worth £5000-£9,000; a replica will cost you £550. [Private collection] December 2014, whilst another from its sister engine Golden Eagle fetched £31,000 two years ago. Mind you, less romantic names suff er price-wise: Another Mallard sister, prosaically named aft er a director of the company, Sir Murrough Wilson, only made a paltry £19,600! Th e nameplates from the equivalent top-link locomotives on the rival LMS also make similar money, although neither are much to look at compared with one from a ‘spam can’ or a GWR engine: ‘Princess Coronation’ class Pacifi c City of Liverpool made £36,900 (place loyalty, no doubt!) whereas Queen Elizabeth from a similar engine, but from its days as a streamliner, made £51,500. More aff ordable are brass nameplates of the Southern’s likeable but modest ‘King Arthur’ class engines, retailing at around £8,000 at present, although the obscure Malorian Sir Durnore made £8,600 not long ago, so heaven knows what King Arthur himself might command! In other words, it is fame and popularity which makes the big money. Take the sister engines of Flying Scotsman. Most were named aft er racehorses which had won classics in the forty years or so before the engines were named. Th is in itself resulted in some oddities, like Dandy Dinmont (survivor of a serious collision before the war), Call Boy and Galopin (geddit?). Th us, Minoru has recently sold for a very modest £7,000, but one of the more famous members of the class could add a nought easily – or very nearly. Industrial locos also oft en carried names. Th ey were usually simple little engines and accordingly had simple names, like Jane, Mersey, Powerful, Diamond or Colliery No. 1. Th ese plates can actually be aff ordable, and start at something in the order of £250 rising to £1,250 for better known ones. Th e added pleasure for all is that one can research these engines and unite them with a sort of mechanical biography – even forgotten for industrial types – that can add much interest and also boost the resale price a great deal. Which can’t be bad. But overall, if this area of modern collecting appeals, be rich. Be very rich! Ecclesbourne Valley Clocks Antique Clock Restoration & Repair Personal, qualifi ed & experienced repair service Please contact us to arrange a visit to your home for a FREE evaluation and quotation 07772 411663 [email protected] Based just outside Belper CountryImagesMagazine.co.uk | 25