A rusty, damaged, pre-war clockwork train set found in a garage as part of a Kendal house clearance has sold for £6,500 at 1818 Auctioneers on the Cumbria Lancashire border.
The early 20th Century Marklin Gauge 1, Midland Railway locomotive with a tender, two carriages and a wagon would have once been a treasured item says David Hunter from 1818 Auctioneers.
“It would have been a top train set when new, the most expensive you could buy in the 1900s” he explained.
“But somehow it ended up in the garage in disrepair,” added David Hunter.
Mr Hunter, one of 1818 Auctioneer’s collectables experts said: “We were called in to clear the house of a wealthy local business man. When we got everything back to our saleroom at J36 Auction Centre the team carefully checked all the boxes. It’s pain-stacking and dusty work and looks can be deceiving, particularly in the case of this train. It was rusty, two of the wheels from the locomotive weren’t attached and it must have been a favourite toy at some time given all its wear and tear.
“There was a lot of interest in it – we had phone, commission and online bids and it eventually went to a collector in Holland. We are chuffed to bits with the result.
“It was probably the most valuable item from the house and it could have been so easily over-looked,” added David Hunter.
Another train from the same house clearance also sold well in the same sale. It was a gauge 1 live steam Midland Railway 0-4-0 Locomotive and Tender which made £1,000 in 1818 Auctioneers two day Collectors Sale last week (Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th May).
The auction house says it is seeing a trend for single owner collections selling well at auction.
