Donnington loco sale fetches over half a million pounds

According to Tori Billington, spokeswoman for fine art auctioneers, Dreweatts, the Donnington Priory sale of the Salem collection of model locomotives fetched £530,000 after the auctioneer’s hammer fell yesterday - over twice the original estimate of a quarter of a million pounds.
At the heart of the Salem collection of model locomotives was a group of British locomotives from the ‘golden age’ of steam in all gauges, ranging from 2½ inch to 10¼ inch gauge, with locomotives built by the greatest and most renowned British builders of the 20th century.
“This extraordinary collection of locomotives was lovingly put together over a period of 40 years, by the late Jack Salem. Amongst the highlights are engines by the likes of Harry Powell of Crewe, who worked all his life at the Crewe locomotive works, where he was a Master Coppersmith and chief of the copper shop,” said another Dreweatts spokeswoman, Vanessa Clewes Salmon.