David Curwen: master engineer

In his autobiography Rule of Thumb – the life story of an engineer, Curwen recalls their first meeting where he and Lord Braybrooke ‘talked and talked about railway locomotives’. The mutual respect between the two men was clear, Curwen himself thought that Lord Braybrooke should have been an engineer, such was his appreciation of the challenges in creating engines from scratch and the inevitable teething problems along the way. For his part, Lord Braybrooke credited Curwen with making the railway at Audley End a success, as he carefully designed and built hard-working and robust locomotives necessary for a commercial operation.

Curwen was to build nine engines in total for Lord Braybrooke’s miniature railway.  As Lord Braybrooke wrote in the foreword to Curwen’s autobiography, ‘We both love trains and always will!’.

The inventory

The inventory of the whole collection is as follows:

Exhibition quality 10¼ inch gauge model of the Great Western Railway Star Class 4-6-0 live steam tender locomotive ‘Polar Star’ no. 4005. 

Est. £25,000-35,000 (+fees)

Well engineered 10¼ inch gauge model of a London North Eastern Railway ‘Ivatt’ Atlantic Class 4-4-2 live steam tender locomotive no. 4433, built by David Curwen and Edgar Newbury, circa 1964.

Est. £20,000-30,000 (+fees)

Well engineered 10¼ inch gauge model of a re-built ‘American Outline’ Atlantic 2-6-2 live steam tender locomotive, ‘Lord Braybrooke’ no. 3548, built by David Curwen, circa 1948 and re-built as a Prairie, 1981.

Est. £20,000-30,000 (+fees)

Well engineered 10¼ inch gauge model of a Ffestiniog Type Hunslet saddle tank narrow gauge quarry engine ‘Barbara Curwen’, 2-4-2, built and completed by David Curwen, 1997.

Est. £20,000-30,000 (+fees)

The ‘Barbara Curwen’ was to be the the last 10¼ inch steam locomotive built by David Curwen.

Exhibition quality 5 inch gauge model of a British Railways Standard Class 4-6-2 live steam tender locomotive ‘Britannia’ no. 70000, built by D Ketley, circa 1970. 

Est. £6,000-8,000 (+fees)

Fine exhibition quality 5 inch gauge model of a London North Eastern Railway A4 Pacific Class 4-6-2 live steam tender locomotive ‘Mallard’ no. 4468, built by John Richardson of Halifax.

Est. £15,000-20,000 (+fees)

Exhibition quality 5 inch gauge model of a London Midland and Scottish Railway Royal Scott Class 4-6-0 live steam tender locomotive ‘British Legion’ no. 6170, built by Eric Lowe of Rotherham, circa 1985.

Est. £10,000-15,000 (+fees)

Exhibition quality 3½ inch gauge model of a London North Western Railway Precursor Class 4-4-0 live steam tender locomotive, ‘The Achilles’ no. 310, builder unknown.

Est. £3,000-5,000 (+fees)

The auction catalogue for the Transport Sale will be available in early February 2019. 

For all auction enquiries and information, contact us: +44 (0)1635 553 553 | transport@dreweatts.com