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They are the nostalgic images that capture a glorious bygone era – a sepia time of domestic travel, short journeys and unfussy breaks on UK soil.

And now, a range of promotional posters depicting the golden age of British seaside holidays looks set to make a small fortune – in America.

Vintage rail posters advertising seaside resorts in Devon and Cornwall are in line to fetch around £2,000 at an auction – on the other side of the Atlantic – next month.

Different time, familiar places: These glorious vintage posters, including adverts for Paignton and Bude, will go under the hammer in New York in August

The images will go under the hammer at the Swann auction house in New York.

One poster alone – emblazoned with the words 'Newquay on the Cornish Coast', produced for the Great Western Railway in 1937 by artist Alfred Lambart – is expected to sell for between $1,000 and $1,500 dollars (£584-£877) in New York on 6 August.

What will they make of this in New York? The images celebrate the seaside towns of Devon and Cornwall and are expected to fetch around £2,000 at auction

Another pre-war poster – produced for the Southern Railway in 1935, featuring the words 'Bude for sunshine and surf' – is set to fetch between $800 and $1,200 (£467-£701).

A poster for British Railways, produced circa 1956 – bearing with the words 'Paignton, Torbay's ideal holiday centre' – is valued at between $700 and $1,000 (£409-£584).

Snapshots of a bygone age: The Welsh town of Aberystwyth is one of those advertised, along with Clacton-on-Sea on the Essex coast

Another British Railways poster – featuring the words 'Teignmouth IS Devon', produced in or around 1960 – is expected to sell for between $400 and $600 dollars (£233-£350).

In the early and middle parts of the 20th century, when comparatively few people owned cars, and when expensive overseas holidays were beyond the financial reach of many people, railway companies commissioned artists to produce colourful, eye-catching posters featuring seaside resorts, beauty spots and places of historical interest.

Return to the age of innocence: The posters capture a time of simple holidays taken on British beaches, before package holidays were introduced

They were a romantic bid to boost rail travel throughout Britain – and they worked.

In recent years, these posters, which once adorned and brightened railway station platforms and waiting rooms, have become increasingly sought-after and valuable mementoes of a gentler, more innocent age.

In the early and middle parts of the 20th century, when comparatively few people owned cars, and when expensive overseas holidays were beyond the financial reach of many people, railway companies commissioned artists to produce colourful, eye-catching posters

Their value was ably demonstrated 12 years ago.

In 2002, at Christie's auction house in London, a 1932 Great Western Railway poster by artist Bruce Angrave – featuring the words 'Newquay, Cornwall's finest Atlantic resort' – sold for £8,225.

Before the auction, the anticipated price had been £3,000-£5,000.