A six inch gauge model steam engine built by Lucas and Davies for a railroad hobbyist called Mr Percy Leigh in the late 19th century will star in Bonhams' Veteran Motor Cars and Related Automobilia sale on November 5.
The model formed part of the most costly miniature railway system in the world. It has attracted a pre-sale estimate of £25,000 - 35,000.
The steam engine was first described and illustrated in an article about the railway system by Robert Machray in Harmsworth's Magazine (1898), entitled The £10,000 Toy.
Machray wrote that the steam engine was "an exact duplicate on a small scale of an express of the London and North Western Railway."
The six inch gauge model steam engine, estimated at £25,000-35,000
(Click to enlarge and view the whole model)
The engine and tender originally cost around £320 and took nine months to make. Machray also observed: "It is a real working locomotive, most exquisitely made."
Justifying his expenditure, the railway's owner Mr Leigh said at the time: "Some men spend their money on racehorses, others on yachts, and so on, but this railroad of mine is more to my fancy."
The engine and tender is sold together with its original rack of four well detailed passenger coaches and three wagons.
It is part of a collection of 40 locomotives, previously owned by a private collector, being sold at Bonhams.
Watch this space for more news on the sale.
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