The 950 items, which include steam models, pond yachts, and scale model railway items, will go under the hammer next week. Auctioneer Kevin Hayward said viewing had attracted "a lot of new faces".
"In my opinion, it's the best and largest accumulated collection of automobile memorabilia, live steam models and model railway that's been in Dunedin for some time," he said.
One of the more valuable items was a live steam model of the British Legion locomotive, hand-built by a Dunedin man.
"This guy taught himself. He was not an engineer. He taught himself from scratch."
The 13cm gauge locomotive, which could pull a train with 10 to 20 passengers, could sell for anything between $6000 and $10,000.
Mr Hayward believed the owner was selling because he was getting too old to maintain the train and transport it to tracks to run.
Another interesting item was a model of the Princess Elizabeth locomotive, built in 1933 and a feature of the recent Diamond Jubilee river pageant. A similar replica recently sold for several thousand dollars and he expected this one to sell for "a couple of thousand".
"It's pretty rare."
