Years ago I used to collect Irish railwayana in a big way but these days my collection is largely gone. I still dabble for monetary gain rather than the joy of collecting and was watching this Great Northern Railway teapot on eBay this evening - at 7.37pm it stood at £25 and I went to make a quick cup of coffee and when I came back ten minutes later it had sold for £255. Glad I didn't really want it!
About twenty years ago I sold one of my special items, a menu that would have gone nicely with the teapot. I can't even remember what I got for it but it was nothing like the price fetched by the teapot despite being a great deal rarer. When railway catering was high end!
The only menus left in my collection - slightly more basic fare from CIE's inter-city dining cars from 1976. We moaned about the prices then but little did we know how well off we were compared to the woeful trolley service now to be found on almost all trains.
But the prices were crazy back then - look at the cost of a glass of milk - more than the retail price of a pint of milk. Take into account the discount+ that CIE would have been getting from suppliers and rip-off isn't it.
I had a large collection of railway books that I bought for an uncle who returned home from uk navvying gang years ago.
Sadly he passed away and I tried my best to find someone who would appreciate them, but in the end they went to a charity shop.
I hope they found the right home.
Plover1958 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 29, 2021 6:55 pm
My father worked for the GNR and we have a few pieces including one of those teapots - having seen that price I must get it out if the attic and display it.
I'd get it onto eBay - the underbidder in the previous sale will still be out there!
Truly eye-watering prices paid for Irish railwayana at Purcell's (Birr) auction today. Staff machines all reaching four figures, some surprisingly good prices for assorted paperwork including track plans and for me the killer was the 1940s Irish language tin communication cord warning sign (below) which sold for an incredible €260. Worse still for me as at one time I had 30 or more of them out of the stores in Inchicore - never issued - which I gave away or sold very cheaply over the years.....
This attractive London & North Western Railway map is up for auction in England https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auct ... 2c00b27037 on the 11th November.
The opening bid is £150 but anything to do with the LNWR is incredibly sought after so a four figure sum is more than likely. The actual poster being sold has the top left corner missing but it offended me so I have rebuilt - I'm so anal..
At the other end of the spectrum is this piece of scrap metal currently being advertised on Adverts.ie for €150. Utterly worthless and could easily be 'picked up ' gratis in any railway yard around the country.
Del.Monte wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 9:24 am
At the other end of the spectrum is this piece of scrap metal currently being advertised on Adverts.ie for €150. Utterly worthless and could easily be 'picked up ' gratis in any railway yard around the country.
