The Victorian or Edwardian Messenger & Sons of Birmingham-made corrugated lamp from the Rhymney Railway attracted collectors of railwayana on the phone, in the room and online.
Estimated at just £50-80, the price was taken up by two collectors – one online from Lancashire and one in the room – with the internet bidder eventually victorious.
East Bristol Auctions’ Andrew Stowe said: “This is an £80 lamp with a £6220 plaque. Finding something from this track is quite rare because it was such a small line existing for quite a short period of time.”
The Rhymney Railway began in the 1850s and was eventually absorbed into the Great Western Railway in the early 1920s.
It is separate to the Rhymney line that is a commuter route still running between Cardiff through the Rhymney valley.
This Messenger & Sons of Birmingham-made corrugated lamp from the Rhymney Railway sold at £6300 in Bristol.
The lamp was sold by the widow and family of a former Bristol railway worker and collector.
The Bristol family sold the entire contents of the former railway worker’s shed – containing a model railway, signs and memorabilia – over two auctions at East Bristol.
The lamp had been found in a tunnel near Bristol and hung in the collector’s shed for many years.
From the same collection two 1960s railway signs from local Bristol station Warmley sold at £760 and £780, against estimates of £800-1200 and £600-800 respectively.
The proceeds of the entire collection will fund a holiday for the widow and her grandchildren.
East Bristol Auctions (buyer’s premium 18% plus VAT) sold the lamp at its Military, History & Transportation Sale on May 19.
