Posted on E-bay

What the?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/122343169...rkt=12&mehot=pp&sd=132089532828&ul_noapp=true

 

Being sold as a repro, which is probably just as well!

 

Certainly but obviously someone had spent a lot of time producing this. Interesting.
Now are we going to get conjecture that it is a replacement plate for one lost or a prototype fitted before deciding to opt for cast brass plates?

As an aside I notice the pub in Aidensfield (Heartbeat) has a Hunt plate above the fireplace (well what the producers thinks a hunt plate looks like)

 

Indeed so but I suspect it could well be an utterly butchered (and thus nearly worthless) original

Paul H

 

I think that a little more work by the vendor might have paid dividends

 

The originals are cast brass with a separate cast brass fox if I am not mistaken.

As for butchering. BR were not above "butchering loco plates. Many King Arthurs were sold directly on from BR having been skimmed, to remove dings, to "Improve " their appearance. This resulted in the lettering being reduced in height to less than a mm in some cases. As a result these plates command a reduced premium.
I myself own a B1 plate that had been skimmed so that the buyer could hang the plate on a wall. Difficult with an unadulterated plate due to the curved back.
Unfortunately BR also decided to clean up the edges to improve Aesthetics.
I initially thought I might have bought a dud but having compared the plate with the plate from other side of the boiler both myself and the Late Tony Peart felt the plates were brothers and the provenance seemed to check out.

 

In the same vein, ITV Hub are showing re-runs of the sit-com George and Mildred.
On the kitchen wall of their next door neighbours, the Fourmiles, are,what look like, two wagon plates. One LMS and the other LNER.

 

Nothing like an original though. This one appears to have been fabricated with screwed on letters, there seem to be only two small mounting holes (the originals have eight, heavily countersunk) and the fox is hopelessly anorexic.

 

Post#6 above suggests it can be either. There is a long history of faking "antique" furniture, glass and ceramics so it need not come as a surprise if this spreads to railwayana. Cast iron signs for Irish railways have been faked as well as railway clocks.

PH

 

Would 20 inch be appropriate for this style of plate?
As in one of the photos.

As a group back in the early 80s we did have some half size replicas made but they were solid cast.

 

Good point, I did not notice that. The size of the plate varied depending on number of letters but Goathland would be around 3' max width.

 

Getting back to the original question. What is it, (apart from the obvious) why was it made, for what purpose etc ? Any ideas ?

 

Item sold for £138. Someone wanted it!!!

 

A couple of items on eBay that may be of interest:

Super D dome cover (surely this is enough for a Facebook new build? )

GWR safety valve bonnet

I have no connection to the seller and post the items purely for information.


Keith