A collection of hundreds of model trains is about to go on auction in Wellington, and it all belonged to one avid collector.
Dunbar Sloane auction house in central Wellington is packed to the brim with miniature automotive of all vintages, shapes and sizes.
Bettina Frith has been tasked with working through more than 600 items up for grabs tomorrow.
"It's taken probably over six months to get it all organised, catalogued and put together," she told 1 NEWS.
She said that while there's a large number of items going under the hammer, there's sure to be enough interest.
"You can see why the guys love this stuff, why wouldn't you want to play with it?"
They all belonged to Bruce Baxter, an avid model collector from Taupō, who died in the late eighties.
Elaine Allely, his daughter, says the collection started off much smaller than it is today.
"He really loved his collection but he was quite secretive about it as he got older," she said. "There were just a few friends that were allowed in the part of the house with all the trains."
Now, she feels it’s time for it to have a new owner.
She says keeping track of the hundreds of items has been a struggle over the last few years.
"The thing that has sort of horrified me is that, as we've unpacked the collection, there's so many duplicates, and you sort of think why?" she said.
With many miniature railway fanatics already scouting out the top items, it's sure to be a fast-paced auction.
The auction begins tomorrow at 11am.
SHARE ME