Great Western Railwayana Auctions (GWRA)

[AngelRoad]

Is anyone taking part in the GWRA auction next Friday and Saturday? Im both bidding and a vendor so it will be very interesting.

 

[Ashley Hill]

TBH I quite fancy a Preece block but I don't wish to pay the stupid prices signalling items seem to be attracting.

 

[32475]

Yes, I’ll be bidding on something. It’s at least two years since I last went to an auction in person and it’s remarkable how the railwayana auctions have kept going. Hats off to them!

 

[AngelRoad]

I had a very successful auction. The nameplate Id entered sold well, I picked up a few goodies and have sufficient (sp?) left over to pay for a new central heating boiler, my car mot/service, house insurance renewal and to cover all the accumulated and likely future vets bills for my beloved cat.

 

[32475]

I’d say that was a good result!

 

[Ashley Hill]

Recently there seems to be a glut of Bristol area totems passing through the various auctions. Has somebody been sat on a hoard of them and finally decided to sell them. There hardly seems to be a sale without a Weston Milton totem in it.

 

[32475]

Recently there seems to be a glut of Bristol area totems passing through the various auctions. Has somebody been sat on a hoard of them and finally decided to sell them. There hardly seems to be a sale without a Weston Milton totem in it.

This brings to mind that next month, Railwayana Auctions UK are auctioning a massive collection of Jubilee nameplates, smokebox numberplates, shed code plates, headboards etc. under instruction from the executors of the estate of a former Peterborough New England shed firemen. The collection is certainly impressive however I can't help thinking that putting such a large number of associated items on the market at one time is not going to realise the optimum price for the vendor; and therefore some potentially lower prices for bidders compared say to releasing two or three for sale at a time . It will be interesting to see the outcome.

 

[AngelRoad]

It is interesting the Railwayana UK “Jubilee auction“. As I understand it its a deceased estate, maybe the excutors want a speedy sale? But doing it this way could result in significant numbers of “not solds”, and will depress the aleady declining market for for steam nameplates and smokebox plates still further. The executors might then be approached by unscrupulous persons with low offers, either for individual items or the collection as a whole

Its sad too that they are all heavily restored, their authenticity in this auction is not in doubt but when they turn up in subsequent years, on ebay, in private sales, other auctions, then doubt will creep in. This is especially true in the case the shed codes which in the condition they are found now means subsequent onward sales will be fraught. I wont be bidding on anything in this auction

 

[Ashley Hill]

Yes there's a fair amount if restoration and repainting on these plates. Ex-loco has often been the preferred option on loco railwayana but I suppose if an item has been in private ownership since purchase and subsequently been repainted should that affect its authenticity,especially if from a known collector?

 

[32475]

To restore or not to restore an item is a matter of personal taste. If you had a whole locomotive there would be no hesitation about restoring it with new parts as necessary in order for it to run and completely strip it down and repaint it. And yet if you have a nameplate or smoke box number plate to display, somehow the original paint chips, grime and patina of age add to its character and authenticity. I believe this last aspect and attitude are certainly more true in recent decades than say in the 1960s when there was less hesitation about restoring such items.
A friend of mine has a beautifully restored and polished shiny nameplate on his sitting room wall and it’s about the only item of railwayana his wife would tolerate in the house. Had he wished to display it in unrestored condition, this would most certainly not have been sanctioned!

 

[Ashley Hill]

Even loco items that were restored or repainted in the 60s now look old. It's like totems,if something rare but pristine turns up i do wonder sometimes about its authenticity. Granted it may not of hung long before closure but it still makes me wonder. There are too many good reproductions around,added to that some of the Bristol area totems that have recently flooded the market all have very similar chipping. Not that I'm suggesting there's anything dubious going on.