IT might be a little on the large side for the back garden, but York rail enthusiasts are being given the chance to bid for a full-size model of a train carriage.

Measuring 23 metres long and weighing between 12 and 15 tonnes, the mock-up of FirstGroup's brand new TransPennine Express train has been shunted for sale on internet auction website ebay.

The company built the model - a replica of a Class 185 Desiro train - to show the public what its new fleet of 100mph trains will be like when they start running in 2006.

The model, which was built in Germany, has been on display at the National Railway Museum, in Leeman Road, for the last six months. As many as 350,000 people have visited it.

Now the train, made of heavy duty MDF and with many genuine interior fittings, has to be moved and sold, or broken up for good.

Perfect for a rail collector, the model has its own driver's cab, first class section with reclining seats and interior lighting.

With a reserve of £5,000, FirstGroup is hoping the life-sized model, which will require a crew of least six people and several trucks to move, will soon find a new home. The model cost £50,000 to make.

David Mallender, PR manager for TransPennine Express, said: "The model has been a great way for us to show tens of thousands of people the quality of trains we will be introducing in two years time.

"The next step is to dismantle and remove the model, but first we want to offer it up for auction to anyone who can find it a home."

For more details, log on to www.ebay.co.uk and use the search team Class 185.

The Class 185 locomotive is just the latest in a long line of strange things to have been sold on ebay in the last few months.

This week, North Yorkshire pub landlord David Mason, of the Dolphin Hotel, in Robin Hood's Bay, was selling the rights to his moustache on ebay to the highest bidder.

In August, York councillor Paul Blanchard found himself "up for sale" when best mate Simon Eldritch tried to auction him off on the site.

In July, a painting purporting to have been created by Selby Rail Crash driver Gary Hart failed to sell.

Updated: 10:11 Thursday, November 11, 2004