I bought the vehicles pictured below a few months ago. 
A train enthusiast sadly passed away, and his family put his N gauge collection through our auction.
Despite not being a model railway enthusiast, I was completely enthralled by the collection. The collection made up mainly of European locomotive and rolling stock was a delight to behold.
It was obvious that the gentleman had catalogued every item in his collection, from the smallest scenic to the largest loco as everything was numbered. Hats off to him as it must have taken him an enormous amount of time to do so. Cataloguing was a task that I kept promising myself I’d do but somehow never got round to – I tell a lie, I once started began compiling a database in Microsoft Access but when I realised that I had approximately 5,000 diecast at the time, I soon stopped it! What a chore!
There was a lot to admire in the collection. Every item was in perfect condition. But what I gleaned from it the most was an insight into the collector himself.
It was evident that the man himself must have been meticulous, honest and enormously proud. The way he kept his collection you could see it was not only his passion, but a reflection of him
I am of the opinion that ‘us’ collectors are not really collecting things be they diecast, action figures, trains, or whatever. We are merely looking after things temporarily. Custodians in other words.
I had to buy something from this collector whose identity remained a mystery, as I felt I owed it to this gentleman. I considered it would be an honour to look after some of his collection for a while. So, I decided to bid for a few lots that would fit into my collection.
Fortunately, I won some Wiking, Lima, Fleischmann and other N Gauge road vehicles, in fact more than I bargained for. Admittedly I’ve sold some of the duplicates, but the rest stand alongside my other diecasts. Long may they do so, until the next custodian comes along.
I hope that one day someone may see my collection in the same way.
Have you ever bought part of a collection for the same reason I did? If so, then let us know . Leave a reply in the box at the bottom of the page . We’d love to hear from you!
