Worksplate renovation

Hello, new member here.

Had a look around and saw a thread about Collector’s Corner at Euston (from a while ago) on the Nostalgia forum so hope I’ve picked the right place for this.

A few days ago I found a dozen or so BR diesel loco worksplates, most of em renovated ages ago by me, that I bought in the late 70s. Mostly from Collector’s Corner, hence mentioning it.

They’re all in good nick though I’ve no paperwork from when I got them but I’ve got a record of the locos they’re from. Hope you can give me a bit of advice – a few are in the condition when they were bought : is it best to leave them in ex-loco condition or does it destroy resale value to renovate them? I’ve attached a few photos showing a couple of ‘originals’ and a couple of restored ones.

No1 Box said:

Hello, new member here.

Had a look around and saw a thread about Collector’s Corner at Euston (from a while ago) on the Nostalgia forum so hope I’ve picked the right place for this.

A few days ago I found a dozen or so BR diesel loco worksplates, most of em renovated ages ago by me, that I bought in the late 70s. Mostly from Collector’s Corner, hence mentioning it.

They’re all in good nick though I’ve no paperwork from when I got them but I’ve got a record of the locos they’re from. Hope you can give me a bit of advice – a few are in the condition when they were bought : is it best to leave them in ex-loco condition or does it destroy resale value to renovate them? I’ve attached a few photos showing a couple of ‘originals’ and a couple of restored ones.
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Welcome to the forums!
Personally, I am not in the business of renovating and reselling, but with most objects if you repaint them, you can absolutely destroy the resale value. This is because if you resell it you will be selling it one to a market of collectors, most of whom will be looking for an original and if they find one they will probably pay a lot for it!
However, heritage railways and museums renovate these sorts of things and they attach them to locos and people don't go up to them and say "oh, well that's rubbish because they've renovated it" and the like.
So, in the end, it depends. If you are planning to resell them soon and want to make some money, don't repaint them as that will ruin the resale value. If you want to put them up in the house or something, repaint them to your heart's content. They are yours and if you want to go back to "original" condition some sort of product will probably get any paint off.

-Peter

I'd agree - leave them as they are.

The one with works numbers 2818/D533 appears to be off class 40 D296/40096 according to http://www.railuk.info/diesel/getloco.php?item= 40096
Another one the same came up for sale in 2016: https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-us/...0003/lot-14e85cf8-9b20-4fdb-8fc9-a5d100b85ca2

Thanks all. Yep I 'd seen the plate on that auction site, ewd. 40096 was an 'old faithful ' I must have seen hundreds of times back in my spotting days so I can well believe when I saw its plate for sale I'd have found the money somehow! Looks in good nick though, maybe I should introduce the paint stripper to mine! I've got one from an English Electric Class 20 that's very similar to the one on that auction site and it looks good as a bare metal plate.

Definitely leave in 'ex-loco' condition. Any stripping or repainting will take away value.

You could be sitting on a fair bit of value...

Agree. Ex-loco is best. At one time repainting plates was common and acceptable but nowadays with the number of fakes and repros around the ex-loco condition (which is almost impossible to fake convincingly), is the best evidence you have that your plate is an original. And if you ever sell it, buyers will pay good money to own this piece of history. Some preservation groups quite legitimately sell replica plates as replicas with no intent to deceive but unfortunately there are other unscrupulous individuals who will try to pass these off as originals, which partly explains why most collectors are wary of restored items.