46225

This has turned up on ebay......hmmm

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Railway-L...265297?hash=item33b9e724d1:g:pyoAAOSwmtJXanM8

 

The bolt holes are not countersunk. Caveat emptor.

 

Might be worth checking with the NRM or Anthony - the original duchess of Gloucester nameplate is at the NRM maybe they know the location (or even possess) the smoke box number?

 

Hmm. Advertises it as a cast iron railway locomotive sign but says he doesn't know what it's from. Surely if you know it's from a locomotive, a quick internet search will give you all the answers you need.

 

I suspect a replica as bolt holes not countersunk as stated before. Not an expert in this field but all the plates I possess, which have been bought from reputable sources, all have countersinking. As I understand it smokebox plates were bolted on using plain headed countersunk bolts with the nuts tightened up inside the door.

 

Could be a replacement plate cast by BR that always seem to exist!!!!!!!

 

Here is a slightly tougher challenge - Stoneleigh July 2012 "ex-loco" (lower) v Pershore July 2016 "ex-loco" (upper).

 

I see what you mean. Here lies the problem. There are excellent replicas out there and it used to be said you could tell the fakes from originals due to the aging patterns. Since the replicas could have been made 30 or 40 years ago that premise no longer holds. Goes to show that provenance is so important. I have seen reputable auction houses fooled (in my opinion) and this is why I am wary of smokebox plates and especially don't bid on shedplates. The price rise on these over the last few years has been phenomenal. I remember seeing newly cast shedplates, in iron, at Carnforth in the 70s. It is not difficult to cast smokebox plates in the same manner. Even Totems are now replicated in steel and properly enamelled. Who is to say a few choice names haven't been distressed and left out to weather for the future. One would hope that the "new" totems have been manufactured in a manner to deter this.
Certainly nameplates have had identifyers ground off in order for the vendor to try to pass them off as original.

 

Sold today for £765-99.

If it is genuine, which I doubt, what's the betting it turns up at a railwayana auction in the near future?

 

Methinks someone has wasted their money but stranger things have happened. As you say will prob appear on the auction circuit.

 

Some one thinks its the real deal!!!

 

Someone has either got a bargain or been fleeced. Wonder if we will find out?
Another question arising-did bidder buy unseen or actually see it in flesh so to speak?