Treasured models could fetch up to £5,000 each as engines finally sold

Thousands of hours of painstaking work went into the models made by the late Hull modelmaker Andrew Marsden.

For nearly a decade after his death, they were preserved in a garage, and it is only now his widow can bear part with them.

Mr Marsden who for many years was the chairman of the Hull & District Society of Model and Experimental Engineers, worked as a lecturer, first in engineering before switching to the Computer Science School at the University of Humberside.

Mr Marsden's widow said: "He built his own workshop when he was 14 and used to go down to the scrapyards of Bingley because they were already beginning to scrap the metal and there was an an awful lot of metal going for coppers. He liked the magic of raw lumps of scrap metal.

"In many ways, engineering was his private time, but we would do a lot together in terms of chasing up and down for equipment or going to scrapyards, and rallies and shows to look at other people's work."

The contents of his workshop, left almost exactly as Mr Marsden left it, with his wristwatch still hanging on the nail, will be sold later this year.

Mrs Marsden said: "It's a bit of a wrench, but we always used to laugh together because nearly everything was bought from an auction, when people died or grew too old, and in a sense someone else will get the benefit from this and it will enable them to get on with their work."

The star lot is a 74in narrow gauge 0-4-0 Kerr-Stuart side tank locomotive, which is about 4ft long. It is expected to make 5,000 to 8,000.

Meanwhile a 5in narrow gauge saddle tank locomotive goes into the auction with a pre-sale estimate of 3,000 to 5,000.

A number of stationary engine models have also been sent for sale mainly priced in the 300 to 800 range. The collection goes under the hammer at Brown & Co, Brigg tomorrow.

Viewing is today from 2pm to 7pm and from 8.30am tomorrow until the start of the auction at 9.30am. The catalogue is also available on www.the-saleroom.com.