Rare model locomotives fetch £14,000 at Market Harborough auction

The LMS "Crab" and LMS Class 7F are considered rare models

Two "rare and highly sought-after" model locomotives have sold for £7,000 each at a Leicestershire auction.

The models were sold to a private collector for a total of £14,000 by Gildings Auctioneers in Market Harborough in what was considered a "special event", on Wednesday.

The models were built by James Stanley Beeson, whose brand was hailed as the "Fabergé of the model railway world".

Beeson had originally made the models for Hollywood film posters.

The models sold, a steam locomotive and tender named LMS "Crab" and a gauge steam locomotive, the LMS class 7F, were said to be in "pristine condition" and sold in their display cases, complete with their paperwork from 1966.

'Incredible craftsmanship'

Both models were made to order for Leonard Bramson, a graphic designer who designed film posters and advertising leaflets for American film production company Columbia Pictures, between the 1930s and 1960s, Gildings said.

Beeson's 55-year career also included making models for the screen.

He was commissioned to make models for Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes and 1932 film The Rome Express.

The LMS Class 7F

Alex Bradbury, Gildings' toys and model railway specialist, said: "The fact that collectors are willing to pay more for these 18-millimetre (EM) gauge locomotives than the price of a second-hand car is testament to Beeson's incredible craftmanship and unrivalled reputation among collectors.

"It is a trend we're seeing across all areas of collecting - when the real rarities emerge, collectors are there and willing to bid strongly for them.

"These two rare examples, which have survived in really good condition with their original paperwork from 1966, are sure to take pride of place with their new owner, a private collector based in Europe."