Special Offer :To mark the launch of this
new website, this book is offered at £3 off. (The normal
cover price is £12.95).
This is the first work to bring together all the key information
for diesel & electric nameplate enthusiasts and collectors.
This 72 page booklet is a must for your bookshelf. |
| Includes: |
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• Comprehensive listings
of all nameplates carried |
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• Price guide by class |
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• Analysis of the major factors influencing
prices |
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• Explanations for large price movements
In recent years |
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• Detailed history of nameplate prices
over the last 30 years |
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|
| Guide
Contents: |
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1 INTRODUCTION (reprinted
below for you as a sampler)
2 DEFINITIONS USED IN THE GUIDE
3 FACTORS AFFECTING AVAILABILITY
4 BUYING MOTIVATIONS
5 FACTORS AFFECTING PRICE
6 RELATIVE VALUES
7 "D" & "E" PREFIX NAMEPLATES
8 TOPS NUMBERED NAMES
9 FURTHER READING
10 NAMEPLATES LISTINGS |
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1-
INTRODUCTION
As a collector of diesel and electric era railwayana for many
years, and a frequent attendee at railwayana auctions, I've
been asked on several occasions in recent years that leading
question - "what is it likely to sell for?" With
significant sums involved, widespread speculation is only
natural, especially as it is very unusual for most railwayana
auction houses to publish estimates. Of course, in the context
of an auction room it only takes two people with their hearts
set on a particular lot for new records to be set. Conversely
when there is only a single interested party he/she will have
the opportunity of buying the lot at its reserve price. Whether
or not the purchase was a cheap or expensive comes down to
each individual's own assessment of the asset's value. This
logic suggests that unless the successful bid was at the buyer's
limit, the price paid was "a bargain".
So much of the material offered is very scarce or unique.
The maximum available quantity of most nameplates is limited
to two! The aim of this guide is to consider and bring together
the available information on factors that influence nameplate
value, using the core data that has been tabulated into TOPS
numerical order listings.
The number of diesel & electric nameplate owners is steadily
increasing, as is the number of nameplates entering the market.
The supply and demand factors affecting the hobby are quite
complex and are separately considered.
The first diesel & electric nameplates to become collectibles
were few and far between but by the 1970s a large batch of
the modernisation plan locomotives including the class 40s,
Warships and the Westerns reached the ends of their working
lives. British Rail centralised the majority of nameplate
disposals through Collectors' Corner at Euston for several
years. The managers at Collectors' Corner would accept sealed
bids for sought after items but many nameplates were given
a price and stayed hung on the wall for months or longer until
a collector could no longer resist. The stack it high sell
it cheap philosophy was not in evidence! It is easy to forget
that the 1970s and early 1980s were periods of high inflation
moving prices forward generally at a pace, and it is interesting
to compare prices with inflation.
In the early 1990s Collectors' Corner were regularly reducing
the prices of several nameplates. The story through the late
1990s and into the new millennium is very different with low
inflation and rapidly increasing nameplate prices.
The price guides included are an assessment of the hammer
price a purchaser may expect to pay at auction at the time
of writing - October 2001. The older "D" and "E"
prefix numbered locomotive nameplates have become a mature
market and a history of relative price movements has been
established. The more recent generations of nameplates appear
to be almost as popular and the strong prices being achieved
are surprising many collectors.
Information from a wide variety of sources has been gathered
together to produce the listings within this guide. There
is still much more information to be gathered. The publisher
will welcome any feedback of additional or conflicting information
that any reader can provide.
Rod Ash
October 2001 |
