| About Us |
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| Railwayana.com
is an on-line division of Railway Nameplates UK (RNUK).
RNUK was founded by Neil Booth as a company dedicated to helping
fellow railway enthusiasts and collectors of railway memorabilia.
Neil is a well known enthusiast/collector who has travelled
all over the UK many times in search of railway memorabilia
and has his own core collection. |
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It all
started when Neil was a 6-year old living in the Manchester
area. His local shed was 9H Patricroft. He was a regular
visitor to the bridge overlooking the depot and he soon
developed a rapport with some of the local drivers and
firemen. After a while he was given bits and pieces
of discarded railway items and some items would appear
'dropped over rear boundary privet hedge' from the house
at the bottom of the garden where Billy Williams, a
9H driver, lived. These items Neil treasured and his
interest grew. |
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At the age of 12 he saw an advert in one of the railway magazines
advertising a list of railway memorabilia. He replied to this
advert and in so doing made contact with the well known established
collector of that era, the late Mr Paul Carter. In return
he was sent his first standard list of 'FOR SALE' railway
memorabilia items.
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| In that first list Neil noticed a particular Patricroft smokebox
numberplate offered FOR SALE for £7 - off Caprotti Standard
5 No. 73128. So he saved his pocket money (2 shillings a week)
and he spent weekends running errands for local neighbours
earning 2/6d and then 5 shillings a week for washing 2 TV
vans. He did this for several weeks to save up. Having got
his £7, he sent a Postal Order off and the numberplate
was his! He'd made a start at actually buying! |
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Neil has several
pictures of himself (aged 12) taken in 1968 on ex-LMS Stanier
Black 5 No. 44777 in scrap line waiting to be sold off. After
steam closed at 9H, Neil saw the loco eventually towed away
by a class 40. The picture on the left shows Neil on the buffer
beam. He naturally has developed a nostalgic affection for
this long lost engine.
37 years later Neil was astounded
to be offered a piece of that engine, which had been bought
for £10 from Cohens at Kettering in December 1968. Just
roll your mouse over the picture to see what it is!
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Perhaps you, like Neil,
have some nostalgic memories of a particular engine, a station,
a signalbox or junction or some other piece of railway item
or location that you often saw or visited. Maybe you want
to be reunited with some items from that past memory. Then
with someone like Neil 'on the regulator', you have located
the right business to help you find it. An enthusiast that
will help enthusiasts develop their own core collection, or
even help them to acquire just single items.
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As BR changed over to modern traction,
so too did Neil's interest broaden. For instance, he saw all
the class 50s as they were delivered new from Vulcan Foundry.
So he is now equally happy enthusing about, seeking out and
displaying railway memorabilia from the modern traction era.
RNUK is becoming the UK's recognised leading business for modern
traction memorabilia. Pictured here, Neil is seen with a display
of modern traction nameplates.
Neil is keen to encourage the adoption of collection and display
themes. Collectors might be interested in particular classes
of engines, items connected with a particular station, town
or line. A very interesting theme is to focus on the collection
of nameplates of, say, a given famous name or event across several
generations of steam locomotive and also different generations
of modern traction locomotives (see example of "Robert
Burns" plates ex-Britannia 70006 & ex-Class 87 87035). |
To use a well known cliché, within the
railway memorabilia world, Neil is one of those people who
has been there, done that and got the proverbial T-shirt!
And what better way to enhance your own collection, to seek
advice on renovation of memorabilia, to seek advice on disposals
of items or collections, to get realistic valuations than
speak to a practising expert in this particular field.
Railwayana.com is not just a business, it's a professional
hobby. Professionally run by someone with a wealth of experience
in this field who can understand what collectors and enthusiasts
want and above all is enthusiastic about collecting railway
memorabilia himself.
Throughout Neil's travels, he has met many people and has
a great number of contacts. He is able to put on displays
using his own core collection and has many offers from his
many fellow collector contacts who will lend items from their
collections to supplement Neil's own items.
Railwayana.com is pleased to be able to offer to put on impressive
displays for organisers of exhibitions, shows and other events.
This is called.....
A further speciality is a
newly launched venture for collectors and those with an interest
in the British Railways Station Totem Signs in their distinctive
6 Regional colours - "The Totem Experience". This
new venture also has it's own website...
Finally, Railwayana.com is
an acknowledged and highly respected valuer of railway relics
and artefacts. The company is often called upon by leading
professional organisations (like the National Railway Museum)
and holders of major collections to provide valuations of
collections or even single items.
In 2006, our Group was strengthened by the introduction of an auction arm via our sister company, Railwayana Auctions UK Ltd. We have since held several very successful auctions at Stafford, which have been notable by the inclusion of some vary rare items, some never seen before or known to have been preserved. The auctions have attracted significant interest and some notable record 'hammer prices' have been achieved. (See Group page)
Neil wishes to thank you for
taking the time to read this profile. He would be interested
to hear of any stories about 9H Patricroft or 44777 (or photographs).
Please do not hesitate to ring him or email him (see
contact details).
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As a result of the above article,
a website visitor has come forward with the smokebox numberplate
of another ex Patricroft locomotive. Anyone got any other
items of "Patricroftana" that Neil
might be interested in?
Perhaps you have a favourite shed that you
would like to collect railwayana from? Let
us know
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