This 1930s life-sized train set can be yours for £350,000
This 1930s life-sized train set can be yours for £350,000… but a very large yard is required
Train enthusiasts are known to be rather devoted to their somewhat niche pastime.
But the ambitions of even the most passionate can hit the buffers at the prospect of building a working steam train in their yard.
But not the late Adrian Shooter CBE, who loved trains so much he built a mile of figure-eight track in the grounds of his home in north Oxfordshire.
And now his locomotive – said to be the world’s oldest working steam train – is being sold for £200,000 as part of the transport boss’s great garden railway.
He acquired his unique engine, used on the famous Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in India in the late 19th century, to run on his narrow gauge railway.
Adrian Shooter CBE, who died last December at the age of 74, laid a mile of track in his yard
His widow Barbara handles the sale, which was Mr. Shooter’s dying wish. The total collection is expected to fetch £350,000
Built in 1889, the 19B Darjeeling B class locomotive is the only one ever to leave India – and leads the sale of a collection of 200 railway pieces collected by Mr Shooter.
The entire collection, which also includes a 1930s electric London Post Office Railway Car, is expected to fetch £350,000.
Mr Shooter joined British Rail in 1970 as a management trainee and later became head of the privatized Chiltern Railways.
Mr Shooter built a large loop and station in his yard. The train enthusiast bought a 19B Darjeeling B class locomotive for his mini railway – the only one ever to leave India
The whole collection, which also includes a 1930 electric London Post Office Railway Car, is expected to fetch £350,000
Mr Shooter joined British Rail in 1970 as a management trainee and later became head of privatized Chiltern Railways
A unique locomotive used in the late 19th century on the famous Darjeeling Himalaya (mountain) line in India, is the main lot in the sale
There is a statue of him at Marylebone station in London. He built the Beeches Light Railway in his spare time at his home in Steeple Aston, near Bicester, and managed it with volunteers.
Mr. Shooter also acquired other locomotives and had replica carriages made to carry passengers.
He was diagnosed with motor neuron disease in February 2022 and died in December at the age of 74.
Mr. Shooter’s widow, Barbara, arranges the sale, along with HJ Pugh Auctioneers of Ledbury, Herefordshire
He built the Beeches Light Railway in his spare time at his home in Steeple Aston, near Bicester, and managed it with volunteers
Also part of the sale is this Model T petrol wagon which has been modified to run on 2ft track gauge. It is equipped with a turntable that allows the car to be lifted off the rails and then lowered to face in the opposite direction
The inside of the carriage of the world’s oldest working steam train. It was Mr Shooter’s last wish that the railway be torn up and sold with the rolling stock
Part of the sale is London Post Office Railway Car Number 760 (later renumbered 37), built in 1930, built for the 6.5 mile 2ft gauge London Post Office Railway
It was his last wish that the railway be torn up and sold along with the rolling stock. Mr. Shooter’s widow, Barbara, is handling the sale, along with HJ Pugh Auctioneers of Ledbury, Herefordshire.
Speaking of Mr. Shooter’s passion for trains, HJ Pugh’s Henry Biss said, “It’s all going under the hammer on June 21 and the star of the show is the 19B Darjeeling locomotive, the oldest boiler steam train in the world.”
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