Lord O`Neill Auction

[airfixfan]

This online Auction being held on 10/11. Some interesting items

[amdaley]

1 hour ago, airfixfan said:

This online Auction being held on 10/11. Some interesting items

What auction is this ?

[cheesy_peas]

Lots of paperwork, as usual in these things some lots poorly described or misidentified. Red and brass cabside plates are almost certainly B&NCR or NCC.

 

Edited yesterday at 11:29 by cheesy_peas

[murrayec]

https://mullenslaurelpark.com/catalogue/9d22e715a6e7d7c91bc03c1c1c1a3535/8d18a33c49d230f6f512e23c3c7b4265/the-lord-oneill-collection-of-railwayana-live-online-auct/?currentPageNo=1

[Westcorkrailway]

I’m gonna register for it. Try my hand at some of this stuff. No prizes for guessing what! 

[Tractionman]

just looking at the items, some right old tat in there and also some interesting historic stuff, like the UTA rolling stock book.

interesting to see how much the posters and paintings are being listed at, is that where the market is?

anyway, good luck to those bidding

[Mol_PMB]

1 minute ago, Tractionman said:

just looking at the items, some right old tat in there and also some interesting historic stuff, like the UTA rolling stock book.

interesting to see how much the posters and paintings are being listed at, is that where the market is?

anyway, good luck to those bidding

Agreed. That UTA rolling stock diagram book caught my eye too. I hope it goes to a person or organisation that would be willing to share the data in it, if the insides are as interesting as it sounds.

One wonders what's in these lots (terrible listings but tempting photo):

AN INTERESTING COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHIC AND HAND DRAWN BLUEPRINTS together with copies and facsimi

A BOUND VOLUME OF BLUEPRINTS, etc. for various locomotives mainly LMS NCC with technical details, no

A MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTION OF RAILWAY AND LOCOMOTIVE BLUEPRINTS, etc.

There are some odd combinations of items like the handmade model of an NIR DH class shunter (O gauge?) mixed in with some Hornby tat. I suppose they're all the same colour, so they must belong together?

HORNBY 00 GAUGE DUCHESS OF HAMILTON AND TENDER boxed together with A Riva Rossi 00 Gauge Royal Scot

In the pricing there's little account taken of the age/rarity of some railways compared to the bigger names.

Some of the prices for the artworks seem high to me as well.

The listings for the books appear extremely rushed - take a photo of a shelf-full, name only one and guess a random price. Some lots are a bargain while others are seriously over-priced.

Some of the official railway paperwork is nice, but remembering that there's a hefty buyer's premium on the prices it's not cheap.

Other items of interest may include a bound set of IRRS journals (perhaps from the very beginning? the listing is poor):

THE IRISH RAILWAY RECORDS SOCIETY PROCEEDINGS A box of bound volumes of Irish Railway Records Societ

 

[leslie10646]

The starting price for the bound set of Journals is ludicrously low. Assuming that it is a full set and in decent condition (the covers look ok!) then I would have thought several hundred Euros?

Otherwise my set has deteriorated in value faster than driving a new car off the forecourt! (I've NEVER done that).

[jhb171achill]

“London & Scotland”???? It must take a very special breed of utter abject moron to dream up such nonsense!!!’

[Flying Snail]

8 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

“London & Scotland”???? It must take a very special breed of utter abject moron to dream up such nonsense!!!’

That was my first thought too but then .... there's also a bigger potential market in London and Scotland than there is around Lough Swilly ... maybe it's more a Delboy type that's coming up with it?

 

 You know it makes sense 

Edited yesterday at 14:08 by Flying Snail

[amdaley]

Some of the descriptions & photos are just awful with a total lack of detail about the items.

There's some stuff there I wouldn't take for nothing.

[Mol_PMB]

16 minutes ago, amdaley said:

Some of the descriptions & photos are just awful with a total lack of detail about the items.

There's some stuff there I wouldn't take for nothing.

There are items on there (mostly historical documents) that I might be willing to pay a fair amount for, if only there was a better description or more photos. But I'm reluctant to take a punt on the basis of the awful information presented.

[cheesy_peas]

1 hour ago, jhb171achill said:

“London & Scotland”???? It must take a very special breed of utter abject moron to dream up such nonsense!!!’

It's not as if they couldn't ask L O'N what these items are. 

Pretty sure the "LSWR" coat of arms is generic British/Royal insignia.

Most Irish auction houses are fairly clueless about railwayana.

Edited yesterday at 15:29 by cheesy_peas

[leslie10646]

31 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

There are items on there (mostly historical documents) that I might be willing to pay a fair amount for, if only there was a better description or more photos. But I'm reluctant to take a punt on the basis of the awful information presented.

Only one thing for it @Mol_PMB, attend the auction!

I agree with others that the descriptions are woeful and His Lordship is being badly served as he won't get the sort of bids I expect he's hoping for.

Add to that the massive auctioneer's fees which they're going to charge a buyer and Lord O'Neill. I've wasted my life in IT, I should have been in auctioneering which seems to a branch of King Midas's Ltd Co.

[Mol_PMB]

48 minutes ago, leslie10646 said:

Only one thing for it @Mol_PMB, attend the auction!

I agree with others that the descriptions are woeful and His Lordship is being badly served as he won't get the sort of bids I expect he's hoping for.

Add to that the massive auctioneer's fees which they're going to charge a buyer and Lord O'Neill. I've wasted my life in IT, I should have been in auctioneering which seems to a branch of King Midas's Ltd Co.

True! But to be able to view the items, and then attend the auction, adds hundreds of pounds of travel and accommodation costs plus some days of annual leave. There wouldn’t be any budget left over for buying the stuff, let alone getting it back home!

[airfixfan]

Lots of stuff with incorrect descriptions and others seriously overpriced and them some bargains 2. Hope to find a home for cetlrtain items in Donegal Town

1 hour ago, Mol_PMB said:

True! But to be able to view the items, and then attend the auction, adds hundreds of pounds of travel and accommodation costs plus some days of annual leave. There wouldn’t be any budget left over for buying the stuff, let alone getting it back home!

Let alone getting it on the plane with Ryanair!

[Mol_PMB]

I would have thought that to achieve the best prices from this collection the auctioneers should be appealing to the US market too. Yet the poor descriptions/photos and the ruinously strict terms and conditions will really discourage bids from anyone who can’t be there in person over at least 3 days. 

[cheesy_peas]

55 minutes ago, Mol_PMB said:

I would have thought that to achieve the best prices from this collection the auctioneers should be appealing to the US market too. Yet the poor descriptions/photos and the ruinously strict terms and conditions will really discourage bids from anyone who can’t be there in person over at least 3 days. 

Unlikely to appeal to United Stateians due to the T word (tariffs on posted items that is) discouraging potential bidders. It would do far better at one of the specialist uk auctioneers, they would at least give lots proper descriptions and weed out the junky bits, plus their home audience are far more interested in railway stuff than we are here.

[Mol_PMB]

1 minute ago, cheesy_peas said:

Unlikely to appeal to United Stateians due to the T word (tariffs on posted items that is) discouraging potential bidders. It would do far better at one of the specialist uk auctioneers, they would at least give lots proper descriptions and weed out the junky bits, plus their home audience are far more interested in railway stuff than we are here.

Yes, if this was at GWRA or equivalent, my wallet would be in danger! 

[Jonathan Allen]

I don't plan to post very often (if at all), but find this sale very puzzling. Firstly, His Lordship would have been much better going to a specialist auction house in the UK (such a Great Central, but others are available), where his collection would have been better catalogued and would have attracted UK buyers, who may be put-off by a sale in the Republic with uncertain import duties (to the UK) and transportation. Certainly, when I sold my modest collection, Great Central spotted that what I thought was a simple wagon plate was something much more important - I doubt His Lordship will get that level of specialist knowledge.

And second, this is the sort of collection which should be going to IRRS, RPSI or even Cultra. It's not going to raise millions (perhaps a few thousand) - not enough to put a new roof on the servant's quarters - so why is it being sold rather than donated?

There may be nobody in the family interested in railways and this collection, so it is understandable to dispose of these items. Proper provision for the fate of a collection should certainly be made during the owner's lifetime as widows have an unfortunate habit of chucking "that old junk" in the bin when the time comes. The fate of what we have gathered down the years should concern us all and I hope anybody reading this post will have considered the future of their collection when we all depart to that great steam shed in the sky. 

[Galteemore]

Agreed. I remember Lord O’Neill visiting our house about 1980-odd to assess some vintage Hornby for his collection, and he’s no fool. So I just don’t know what’s happening here. What you can be assured of is the provenance of these items - there won’t be fakes or knock-offs in there. The art estimates are interesting in their variability. The auctioneers clearly like Jack Hill’s work! 

[Horsetan]

7 hours ago, leslie10646 said:

..., I should have been in auctioneering which seems to a branch of King Midas's Ltd Co.

The Reverse Midas Touch is also possible....

[airfixfan]

20 hours ago, Jonathan Allen said:

I don't plan to post very often (if at all), but find this sale very puzzling. Firstly, His Lordship would have been much better going to a specialist auction house in the UK (such a Great Central, but others are available), where his collection would have been better catalogued and would have attracted UK buyers, who may be put-off by a sale in the Republic with uncertain import duties (to the UK) and transportation. Certainly, when I sold my modest collection, Great Central spotted that what I thought was a simple wagon plate was something much more important - I doubt His Lordship will get that level of specialist knowledge.

And second, this is the sort of collection which should be going to IRRS, RPSI or even Cultra. It's not going to raise millions (perhaps a few thousand) - not enough to put a new roof on the servant's quarters - so why is it being sold rather than donated?

There may be nobody in the family interested in railways and this collection, so it is understandable to dispose of these items. Proper provision for the fate of a collection should certainly be made during the owner's lifetime as widows have an unfortunate habit of chucking "that old junk" in the bin when the time comes. The fate of what we have gathered down the years should concern us all and I hope anybody reading this post will have considered the future of their collection when we all depart to that great steam shed in the sky. 

We at Donegal Railway Heritage Museum were lucky enough to be donated early this year some CDR and SLNCR nameplates by Lord NEILL