Steam engines fire up auction enthusiasts

Avid model steam engine collector Greg Edwards is auctioning more of his collection through auctioneer Steve Graham from 10am tomorrow at 64 Urquhart Street, Woodend.

The sale includes a 1920s British Atkinson steam truck – a model so large Greg Edwards can sit on it.

Greg was only 13 when he began collecting model steam engines – and eventually built his stocks to more than 200, describing his collecting habits as “a bit of a disease”.

He branched from steam engines to old brass padlocks and enamel signs – haunting the Camberwell Sunday market from the early 1970s and attending swap meets to see what he could pick up.

One of this auction’s highlights is a steam engine exhibited in England’s 1994 Midlands Model Engineering Exhibition. 

Other auction items include a Golden Fleece double petrol bowser, Peter’s Ice Cream Cone sign, mantel and console radios, 10c poker machine and arrange of military memorabilia.