Man's hidden Hornby model railway collection fetches £21k

This little tank engine sold for £650, double its estimate, because of its rare rare malachite green colour, rather than the usual olive green

A council worker's hidden model railway collection amassed without his family's knowledge has sold at auction for £21,000.

Covert train toy enthusiast Adrian Batty stashed dozens of rare vintage "gems" in a spare room at his East Yorkshire home.

His wife Jane only found the coveted miniatures after his death last year.

"I knew he collected trains but I didn't quite know how many he had," she said.

Mrs Batty said she had never set foot inside her husband's collection room, so was taken aback when she finally saw its contents.

"There was one wall of the room lined with plastic boxes and inside every plastic box were boxed Hornby trains and coaches, hundreds and hundreds of them," she said.

Mr Batty owned items from the prized 1938-1963 Hornby Dublo period, including 130 locomotives, thousands of items of rolling stock and rare trackside accessories in their original packaging.

Expert Graham Paddison said Mr Batty had been a "dedicated and knowledgeable" collector

Model railway expert Graham Paddison, of David Duggleby Auctioneers, Scarborough, said the collection was just "one gem after another".

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He said Mr Batty's family had no idea of the extent of his collection.

"They were aware that he bought the odd item but he never spoke much about it and no-one intruded into his room," he said.

A rare Canadian Railways caboose made £160, three times its expected price

The former Hull City Council pest control officer had been a "dedicated and knowledgeable" collector, Mr Paddison said.

"He hunted down the rarest items, in the finest condition, meticulously recording the details in his inventory - including whether he had bagged a bargain or paid over the odds," he said.

The entire collection was auctioned in over 200 individual lots, raising £21,000, though some items were not sold as they did not reach their estimated price.