The name Marklin always suggested an O gauge loco and tender offered at Tennants (20% buyer’s premium) would find a buyer against a £200-300 estimate but there was a considerably greater head of steam when international collectors looked closer.

Extracted from Antiques Trade Gazette | Terence Ryle

It was pre-First World War and customised with the colours and logo of the London North Western Railway, the 1856-1922 line which became part of LMS.

“Usually these locomotives were painted by the German factory in generic colours,” said Kegan Harrison, toys specialist at the Leyburn rooms.

“This was a very rare example as it carried the colours of a British railway line, the LNWR, which certainly spiked the interest of collectors.”

A bidding battle was won by a Continental buyer at £9000.