'Important' model railway collection sells for £74k at Cockermouth auction

A model railway collection which cost more than £300,000 to assemble has gone under the hammer.

Hundreds of locomotives, carriages and track were passed to Mitchells Auctioneers in Cockermouth when its elderly collector died.

The huge collection, which took years to create, was removed from a "tiny" terraced house near the town.

Enthusiasts visited from across the UK and almost every item was sold for a total of £74,497, auctioneers said.

It also featured railway memorabilia, including original metal signs, one of which fetched £4,500 alone.

Known as Lot 628, the red enamel sign bearing the name Cockermouth went for almost six times its guide price.

The collection had been described as "significant", both for the auction house and the region.

"This is one of the largest private collections of model railway items that I have ever seen," David Lomas of Mitchells Auctioneers said.

"It's really of national importance because collections like this do not come up very often.

"For the north of England this is almost unique and this all came out of a small terraced house."

It had taken staff weeks to itemise and catalogue each item before they went to auction on Thursday.

Auctioneers were surprised to see many of the carriages unused, still wrapped and in their original box.

They said a great deal of attention had gone into recreating historically accurate scenes.

The collection opened to the public a day before the auction. Enthusiasts said it could not be missed and some travelled for hours.

"They had to be viewed, and the only way to do it justice to come the day before, and view it properly," one said.

James Forster, head of department at Mitchells Auctioneers, said the "room was filled" with about 50 people bidding, and more online.

"Everything but a handful of items were sold," he said.

Although rare, he said another auction on the same scale is possible because of the area's affection for railway past.

Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].