An astonishing train set, built up by a York railway enthusiast over a period of more than half a century, is to go under the hammer next week.
It features 131 locomotives, dozens of vintage passenger carriages, 80 goods wagons, two breakdown cranes… and enough track to run a network!
More than half the locomotives have not been run in decades – and in some cases ever, making them even more desirable to collectors.
The collection was the passion of York printer Ted Kenny.
He was just a schoolboy when he got his first train set for a Christmas in the late 1940s. The locomotive was secondhand and the small circle of track was play-worn – but it triggered a passion that would last a lifetime.
Auctioneers & valuers David Duggleby are handling the sale in their Scarborough showroom.
“Ted’s first train set was Hornby Dublo, the leading 00 gauge system in the period 1938-1964, and Dublo would remain his great passion,” said auctioneer Graham Paddison.
“The magnificent layout that he eventually built at his home was three-rail Hornby Dublo and fifty-three of the locomotives going under the hammer are Dublo.
“Those include a pre-war model of the Class A4 Pacific Sir Nigel Gresley, a really early model that’s actually almost as old as the real locomotive, as well as rarities such as the Deltic Diesel Co-Co ‘St. Paddy’ or a Class AL-1 electric pantograph loco.”
Graham added: “Ted’s interest did also extend to two-rail 00 gauge and the larger scale 0 gauge model railway system and he hunted down many collectible locomotives – even though he never had layouts on which to run them.
“So the auction includes 38 Wrenn locos, 28 Hornby locos and a dozen 0 gauge locomotives that have simply been on display in Ted’s home for decades.
“They haven’t pootled around a circle of track since he acquired them.”
The collection is being auctioned next Friday (12 January) on behalf of Ted’s family.
It comes three years after his death and the subsequent sale of his home which necessitated the dismantling of the magnificent layout that filled one of the rooms in the house.
The most valuable individual lots are expected to be two of the large 0 gauge locomotives made by Ace Trains of London – ‘Westminster’, a Schools Class Southern Railway locomotive in wartime black and a Stanier tank locomotive in late period BR passenger green – both of which have pre-sale estimates of £400-£600.
The pre-sale prediction is that in total the collection will make £8,500-£10,000.
The auction viewing sessions are at the Vine Street Salerooms in Scarborough on Wednesday and Thursday next week (10 and 11 January) and on Friday 12 from 9am until the start of the auction at 11 o’clock.
The fully illustrated catalogue is available on the firm’s website.