It is a throwback to the era when steam trains set world records. But this model locomotive is tipped to break a record of its own when it goes up for auction.
The one-eighth scale version of the Duchess of Buccleuch, described as one of the finest ever built, is expected to fetch £200,000.
It is one of two models of the loco made by renowned train builder Harry Powell.
The other sold for a world record £183,000 seven years ago.
The 10ft long locomotive and tender took Mr Powell 18,000 hours to build over ten years and is believed to have been completed around 1970.
He used original drawings to create an exact working replica of the Duchess of Buccleuch, which operated on the West Coast Main Line between London and Glasgow for a quarter of a century.
The attention to detail is such that it is fitted with a copper boiler, safety valves, regulator, blower, whistle, brake, wheel reverse gear, sliding firedoors, pressure gauges, twin water sight gauges and a hardwood floor.
Painted in the original crimson London, Midland and Scottish Railway’s livery, it belonged to prominent model maker Ted Martin, who died aged 88 in 2010.
It is being sold by his estate at auction house Dreweatts, in Newbury, Berkshire, on March 12 with a pre-sale estimate of £150,000.
Michael Matthews, of Dreweatts, said the model is ‘as close as you can get to the real thing’ and could easily fetch £200,000.
He added: ‘Harry Powell is considered to be the Rembrandt of the model train making world. I would say it is one of the best railway models ever built.’
The one-eighth scale version of the Duchess of Buccleuch, described as one of the finest ever built, is expected to fetch £200,000.
It is one of two models of the loco made by renowned train builder Harry Powell.
The other sold for a world record £183,000 seven years ago.
The 10ft long locomotive and tender took Mr Powell 18,000 hours to build over ten years and is believed to have been completed around 1970.
He used original drawings to create an exact working replica of the Duchess of Buccleuch, which operated on the West Coast Main Line between London and Glasgow for a quarter of a century.
The attention to detail is such that it is fitted with a copper boiler, safety valves, regulator, blower, whistle, brake, wheel reverse gear, sliding firedoors, pressure gauges, twin water sight gauges and a hardwood floor.
Painted in the original crimson London, Midland and Scottish Railway’s livery, it belonged to prominent model maker Ted Martin, who died aged 88 in 2010.
It is being sold by his estate at auction house Dreweatts, in Newbury, Berkshire, on March 12 with a pre-sale estimate of £150,000.
Michael Matthews, of Dreweatts, said the model is ‘as close as you can get to the real thing’ and could easily fetch £200,000.
He added: ‘Harry Powell is considered to be the Rembrandt of the model train making world. I would say it is one of the best railway models ever built.’
Music: "Suonatore di Liuto" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Source: Daily Mail
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