Unique archive of British Railway photos and slides lead in April sale

Part of a large and comprehensive Collection Of British Railway Photographs And Slides – sold for £5,500.

The collection consisted of over 44,000 images, half of which are photographs, and the other half slides, taken by D. Butterfield and G. Butland, and sold with copyright.

Primarily depicting locomotives, the collection is comprehensively catalogued in notebooks and folders, with the majority annotated with location, date and other pertinent information.

From the sale collection was a further lot of over 2,800 photographs and slides of British Buses (sold for £780), and a collection of over 8,000 images of the Swiss Railways (sold for £950) – both of which were assembled by Messrs Butterfield and Butland.

A charming clockwork Bing Taxi sold for £600.

Also with railway interest was a large LNER Hunt Class Locomotive Fox, once mounted on The Craven locomotive, which was withdrawn from service in January 1961 (sold for £1,200).

Among the sporting lots in the sale was a large collection of British Football League Club Enamel Badges.

The lot comprised approximately 300 badges and sold for £700 against an estimate of £60-80.

The fishing section of the sale achieved a 100 per cent sold rate and included such highlights as a Cast Alloy Fish Sign, which sold for £320, and a selection of framed advertising fishing flies that sold well above estimate throughout.

A Cast Alloy Fish Sign that sold for £320.

The toy section of the sale saw strong prices for N Gauge locomotives, wagons and coaches, the majority of which came from a single private collection.

The top lot was a group of N Gauge assorted British Outline Coaches from various manufacturers, which sold for £850.

A further private collection of HO Gauge models achieved well above estimate, too.

Finally, a clockwork Bing Taxi, with a modelled figure driver and lithographed passenger compartment sold well at £600.

Also creating interest was a quantity of lots from the Corgi Aviation Archive from an extensive private collection, the final part of which will be sold in the next Toys, Models, Collectables and Sporting Sale in July of this year.

The sale achieved a total hammer price of £72,320 for the 490 lots, with a 93 per cent sold rate.