Half a century of nameplates to be in Stoneleigh spotlight

FOURTEEN nameplates from locomotives built from the dawn of the last century to the Nationalisation era will feature in Great Central’s June 1 auction at Stoneleigh, with the oldest being Orion from a February 1900-built GWR Bulldog, and the newest Great Central from an LNER A1 Pacific that emerged to traffic in October 1949.

The Bulldog example is a combined name and numberplate from Swindon-built No. 3330, which started life as No. 3342, was renumbered 3330 in 1912, and was withdrawn in August 1938. A second Bulldog plate going under Mike Soden’s hammer will be Frank Bibby, from No. 3416, which entered traffic in February 1903, was renumbered 3364 in 1912, and saw service with BR before withdrawal from Westbury (82D) in June 1949.

The 4-4-0 was named after a GWR director who was made a CBE in 1920 and held a number of public positions, including JP and both deputy lieutenant and high sheriff of Shropshire. He was also a member of the shipping family whose name was carried by