Special Auction Services is bringing railway fans its annual Trains Galore two-day auction of more than 1000 lots.

Extracted from Antiques Trade Gazette | Laura Chesters

The sale will be the last in the premises for SAS which is moving to a warehouse close to Newbury Racecourse railway station in the new year.

Day one of the sale will comprise 518 lots and day two has 678 lots of locomotives and railwayana with estimates ranging from £60 to £7000. The auction takes place on December 17-18.

According to SAS the top lot (above) is a 5″ gauge LB&SCR Stroudley A1 Class 0-6-0 tank locomotive ‘Brighton’, of the famous ‘Terrier’ class, which carries an estimate of £6000-7000.

Another highlight in the sale is a collection comprising 121 lots of Gauge I locomotives and rolling stock which were intended for use on a Garden railway using battery power, many built by the vendor. The collection is expected to fetch £60,000.

Examples include a Gauge I Finescale Battery-electric LMS 4-6-2 ‘Princess’ Class Locomotive and Tender estimated at £400-600.

The sale also includes railwayana such as posters advertising railway lines and train journeys. A poster printed by The Liverpool Printing & Stationery Co promising Unrivalled Views of Dockland and Shipping carries an estimate of £400-600. The Liverpool Overhead Railway (known locally as the ‘Dockers’ Umbrella’) operated along the Liverpool Docks from 1893-1956.

It was the first electric elevated railway and the first to use automatic colour light signals, and was home to one of the first passenger escalators at a railway station.

View and bid for lots in the Trains Galore sale via thesaleroom.com.

Established in 1991, the auction house has been operating from three premises – two salerooms and additional storage – but will now consolidate into a larger 18,000 sq ft warehouse close to Newbury Racecourse railway station.

This building, which is nearer to the M4 than the previous location, gives the company 50% more space across two floors. The new location is Plenty Close, off Hambridge Road, Newbury and the firm will continue to hold a sale a week and already has 47 scheduled for 2020.

Model train fans can also visit BP Fairs, aka Barry and Ellis Potter and family, who will be holding a toy, train and collectors’ fair at the Stafford County Showground tomorrow (Sunday, December 15). Read about the toy fair here.