Duchess of Montrose

Among the items found in John's collection was this Hornby Dublo Duchess of Montrose in lovely condition. It is boxed complete with packing and spanner but no bottle of oil.

A friend tells me that as shiny paint version, it's an early model. Apparently they moved to a satin finish fairly quickly. This obviously means that the loco is worth a massive fortune.

Except it's not. A quick e-mail Pat Hammond tells me that this Duchess is the most common Dublo model. From a dealer you expect to pay £50-80. Selling, he might give you £25-40. And this is based on old figures. Since they were last checked, the number of Dublo collectors has dropped, as they go to the great model shop in the sky.

To make matters worse, Hornby Dublo stuff is so well made it doesn't wear out. In an atomic war you're probably perfectly safe sheltering under one of the many tons of HD platform to be found overpriced on every 2nd hand stall in the country.