New Special Cover

 

First Electric Train from Gorakhpur Railway Station : 22 November 2015

First Electric train inaugurated on 22nd November 2015 at Gorakhpur.Train was flagged off by Sri Suresh Prabhu Minister Railway ,Sri.Manoj Sinha Minister of states Railway.A special cover was  issued to commemorate this occasion.

This cover does not have  PIN of the Post Office .It is against the rule issued by India Post for the special covers.

As per instructions and rules mentioned in Hand Book of Philately, Special Cancellation should incorporate the name and the PIN of the post office where the special cancellation is to be provided or in case of the special cancellation provided at venue, it should incorporate the Name and PIN of the post office in whose delivery jurisdiction the venue is located. In the special cancellation provided on above special cover, name and PIN of the post office is not included.

: Sandeep Chaurasia & Ashwani Dubey – Gorakhpur

New Special Covers

 

"Integral Coach Factory - Diamond Jubilee" - 2 October 2015

:  S. Vijayakumar, Chennai email : vijay.philatelist@gmail.com

Special cover issued on Jain saint
- Sudhir Jain

On the occasion of 10th Swargarohan Anniversary of Jain Saint Pujya Jayanand Muni Maharaj, a special cover was issued at Jaipur on 30th September 2015. Release function was organised at Mohanbadi, Galta Gate,  Jaipur in the auspicious presence of Pujya Maitryprabh Sagar ji Maharaj. Mr. J. M. Dhor, President,  Jaipur Philatelic Society was instrumental in release of this special cover and special cancellation.

New stamps from Royal Mail..

 

Classic Locomotives

Date of Issue : 20 February 2014

Royal mail issued a miniature sheet featuring classic locomotives.

The delightful, bilingual Miniature Sheet features all four Classic Locomotives of Wales stamps, together with a dramatic photograph of the BR Class 5101 2-6-2T No. 4126 as it crosses the Crumlin Viaduct with a passenger train in 1963 in its border.

LMS No. 7720 First Class

Built in 1895 at the Crewe Works for the London and North Western Railway, the LMS “coal tank” is pictured leaving Britannia Bridge, pulling a Bangor-to-Holyhead local train in around 1930.

Hunslet No. 589 Blanche 78p

This stamp shows Blanche at the Pen Cob Halt on the Ffestiniog Railway in 1964. The locomotive was originally made for the Penrhyn Slate Quarry by the Leeds based Hunslet Engine Company. The narrow gauge Ffestiniog railway took slate to the harbour at Porthmadog.

W&LLR No. 822 88p

The Earl Photographed waiting for a car to be moved from the line on Welshpool’s Union Street in 1953, The Earl was constructed for the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway in 1902.

BR 5600 No. 5652 £1.28

The BR 5600 freight engine was designed by the Great Western Railway company to transport goods across its massive rail network. The stamp shows the loco pulling coal at Cwmbargoed in 1959.

British Flora

Date of Issue : 19 February 2014

Another set of stamps issued by Royal Mail on 19th February 2014 feature some varieties of British Flora. This is under the series Pictorial Post & Go Stamps by Royal Mail. The six Spring Blooms Post & Go Stamps are printed in a vertical strip and overprinted with First Class values. They are brought on a carrier complete with fascinating facts about each of these beautiful but in some cases declining species.

Primrose

Walk into a clearing in the woods and you could well be pleasantly surprised by a colony of primroses, for a sheltered spot between the trees is one of their favored habitats, as well as parks and churchyards. According to folklore, these lemon-yellow flowers with their heart-shaped petals – which flower from February to May – will grow red if watered with bullock’s blood or planted upside down on Good Friday.

Snowdrop

Haunting woods, meadows, parks and churchyards, these delicate lantern-shaped blooms encapsulate, for many, the beginning of spring. From the Amaryllidaceae family, they are in flower in February and March. A symbol of hope and purity, the snowdrop is traditionally dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Lesser Celandine

Catch these bright yellow star-like flowers on a sunny spring day and you will be in for a treat, for they open wide in the sunshine. Spot them in woods and hedgerows and on road verges and the banks of streams from March to May. “Local” names for the celandine include “goldy knob”, “filding cup” and “golden guinea”.

Common Dog Violet

From April to June, these rich purple flowers bloom across Britain’s woods, downlands and grass heaths. From the Violaceae family, dog violets are widespread throughout the British Isles.

Wild Daffodil

The iconic bright yellow flower that famously inspired William Wordsworth blooms from February to April, and is seen in coppice and open woodland. Its Latin name, Narcissus pseudonarcissus, is said to have come from the Greek mythological figure Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. The daffodil’s trumpet shaped center is seen as the head of Narcissus bending down while he admires his face in the water. Daffodils are traditionally meant to first flower on St David’s Day – 1 March.

Blackthorn

Forming hedgerows and scrub, the white flowers of this very spiny shrub are in bloom from March to May. Come the autumn, the blackthorn produces sloes – those plump, purple berries that are used, of course, to make sloe gin.

New stamp on Railways..

 

Bulgarian Post issued stamps dedicated to Sofia Metropolitan. This is in the form of se-tenant strip.

The Sofia Metropolitanis the rapid transit network servicing the Bulgarian capital city Sofia. It began operation on January 28, 1998. Currently, the Sofia Metro consists of two interconnected lines, serving 27 stations, with a total route length of 31 kilometers, being the 34th largest European metro system behind Amsterdam Metro and before Budapest metro. The Metro links the highly populated districts of Lyulin–Mladost (Line 1 – Red) and Nadezhda–Lozenetz (Line 2 – Blue).

120th anniversary of Wuhan University

Date of Issue : 29 November 2013

China Post issued a stamp commemorating the 120th anniversary of Wuhan University (1893-2013) Wuhan, Central China’s Hubei province, on Nov 29. The stamp is valued at 1.2 yuan ($0.2). The Wuhan University Library is featured in the design, which embodies the energy, vitality and spirit of the century- old school.

During the celebration faculty, students, and guests from around the world gathered for the grand event.

Notable guests at the celebration included: Nobel Prize in Literature winner Jean Marie Gustave Le Clezio, Nobel Prize in Economics winner Christopher A. Pissarides, Vice President of Delft University of Technology Peter Wieringa, leaders from collaborative universities, thousands of alumni from home and abroad, the daughter of WHU previous president Wang Shijie – Professor Wang Qiuhua, son of Li Da – Professor Li Tianxin, members of the press, members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), senior professors in humanities and social sciences, along with WHU leaders, faculty and student representatives.

New stamps from Malaysia

100 Years of Banking Excellence in Malaysia

 

Malaysia Post issued a set of stamps on 23rd November 2013, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Malaysia RHB Banking Group. The RHB Banking Group was celebrating its 100th year anniversary on 15 July 2013.

On 15 July 1913, The Kwong Yik Banking Corporation Limited was incorporated. It was Malaya’s first local bank and was founded by a group of prominent members of the Chinese community led by Wong Loke Yew. In 1966, Development and Commercial Bank Berhad (DCB) was established by then Finance Minister, Tun Sir Henry HS Lee, and it grew to be the fifth largest bank in Malaysia. He also credited the group’s success today to the dedication and hard work of its Senior Management team and employees.

 

New Stamps from India…

 

The Minister of State for Railways, Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury released a set of two commemorative stamps and a Miniature Sheet on completion of 150 years of Kanchrapara Workshop and Jamalpur Workshop of Eastern Railway, at a function held at Sealdah station, Kolkata on November 26, 2013.

  Prashant Pandya : Indian Philately Digest

New Special Cover

 

Central Railway in co-operation with India Post, Maharashtra and Goa circle, released a special cover on 125 years of CST building, formerly known as Victoria Terminus, on 27th May 2013. The cover was released by Col KC Mishra, VSM, Chief Postmaster General, Maharashtra, and W K Pradhan, Additional General Manager, Central Railway, at CST.

 

CST building was designed by Frederick William Stevens with influences from Victorian Italian gothic revival architecture and traditional Mughal buildings, the station was built in 1888 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s 50th birthday. Construction of this building was started in May 1878. Name of this station was changed from Victoria Terminus to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) in March 1996. This building was also included in UNESCO’s World Heritage Site list in 2004.

Courtesy : Indian Philatelists Forum 

Greetings on Makar Sankranti..

Makar Sankranti is one of the most auspicious occasions for the Hindus, and is celebrated in almost all parts of India in myriad cultural forms, with great devotion, fervour, and gaiety. It is a harvest festival. Makar Sankranti is perhaps the only Indian festival whose date always falls on the same day every year on, January 14. In Tamilnadu it is called Pongal and in Assam it is known as Bihu. In Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu it was celebrate yesterday  as Lorhi !! On this festival Greetings to all my Readers !!

Club News

New Special Cover

125th Anniversary of Kozhikode Railway Station

:

: S.Vejeykummar, Chennai : email : vejey.philatelist@gmail.com

New stamp from India..

 

Date of Issue : 11 January 2013

India Post released a stamp to commemorate the Silk Letter Movement on 11th January 2013.

: Mansoor B. Mangalore : http://mbstamps.blogspot.in/

The Silk Letter Movement

The Silk Letter Movement (Tehreek-e-Reshmi Rumal) refers to a movement by Deobandi leaders to attempt to begin a Pan-Islamic insurrection in British India during World War I by seeking support from Ottoman Turkey, Imperial Germany, and Afghanistan. The plot was uncovered by Punjab CID with the capture of letters from Ubaidullah Sindhi, one of the Deobandi leaders then in Afghanistan, to Mahmud al Hasan another leaders then in Persia. The letters were written in Silk cloth, hence the name.

^{Read More…}

^{New Special Cover}

^{125th anniversary of Kozhikode Railway Station}

Date of release : 2 January 2013

: Ashwani Dubey, Gorakhpur

London Underground..

 

Ghadar Movement Centenary

Date of Issue : 8 January 2013

Image : Mansoor B. http://mbstamps.blogspot.in/

India Post released a stamp  to celebrate centenary of Ghadar Movement on 8th January 2013.

Kochi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh  inaugurated the 11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here on January 8 and released a stamp on the Gadar movement reflecting the saga of courage of overseas Indians who became trail blazers of the freedom struggle.

The Gadar movement is the saga of courage, valour and determination of overseas Indians who had come to Canada and US either for higher education or for economic opportunities. They became trail blazers of the freedom struggle.

News from other Postal Administrations…

UK : Royal Mail

150th anniversary of London Underground

The Royal Mail has issued a stamp set and a miniature sheet to mark the 150th anniversary of London Underground. The special issue explores not just the ambition and engineering genius that gave the world a whole new way to travel, but also a wealth of truly revolutionary graphic art and architecture.

The Mint Stamps feature lithographs, illustrations and photographs depicting the journey of the London Underground from 1863 to the present day and are brought on stamps in pristine condition.

The Miniature Sheet comprises four stamps, each featuring three classic London Underground advertising posters, which together create a timeline of art on the Underground.

UAE : Emirates Post

Date of Issue : 29 November 2012

Spirit of the Union

Emirates Post has released a stamp & 7 souvenir sheets with the rulers of the seven Emirates, on 29th Nov 2012 to mark the 41st National Day - Spirit of the Union.

: Kenneth Sequeira – Dubai (UAE) : email : kenneth.sequeira@hotmail.com

 

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway…

 

Indian themes on foreign stamps…

- Kenneth Sequeira

 

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR)  nicknamed the "Toy Train", is a 2 ft railway from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling in West Bengal, run by the Indian Railways.

It was built between 1879 and 1881 and is about 86 kms.  Four modern diesel locomotives handle most of the scheduled services: however the daily Kurseong-Darjeeling return service and the daily tourist trains from Darjeeling to Ghum (India's highest railway station) are handled by vintage British-built B Class steam locomotives. Since 1999 the train has been a World Heritage Site as listed by UNESCO along with the Niligiri Mountain Railway as an extension to the original destination. Its the 2nd railway to have this honour bestowed upon it, after Semmering Railway of Austria.

A broad gauge railway connected Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Siliguri in 1878. Siliguri, at the base of the Himalayas, was connected to Darjeeling by a cart road (the present day Hill Cart Road) on which "Tonga services" (carriage services) were available. Franklin Prestage, an agent of Eastern Bengal Railway Company approached the government with a proposal of laying a steam tramway from Siliguri to Darjeeling. The proposal was accepted in 1879  by Sir Ashley Eden, the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal

Gillanders Arbuthnot & Co. constructed the railway. The stretch was opened on 23 August 1880, while the official opening of the line up to Darjeeling was on 4 July 1881. Despite natural calamities, such as an earthquake in 1897 and a major cyclone in 1899, the DHR continued to improve with new extension lines being built in response to growing passenger and freight traffic. However, the DHR started to face competition from bus services that started operating over the Hill Cart Road, offering a shorter journey time. During World War II, the DHR played a vital role transporting military personnel and supplies to the numerous camps around Ghum and Darjeeling.

After the independence of India, the DHR was absorbed into Indian Railways and became a part of the Northeast Frontier Railway zone in 1958. In 1962, the line was realigned at Siliguri and extended by nearly 6 km to New Jalpaiguri (NJP) to meet the new broad gauge line there.

Bhutan & Gambia released stamps on this railway line as part of the Famous Trains / Locomotives across the world.

India Post issued  a commemorative stamp on Centenary of  The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway on 18 December 1982.

- Kenneth Sequira, Dubai (UAE) : email -  kenneth.sequeira@hotmail.com

Also Read….The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and its Locomotives by Vikas Singh

New special Covers..

 

150 Years of Narrow Gauge in India

20 April 2012 – Mumbai

 

 

175th Birth anniversary of Sadguru Shri Siddhartha Swamiji

 

15 February 2012- Hubli

 

 

Code breakers put their stamp on fashion.

For the “Great British Fashion” stamp issue on 15^th May Bletchley Park Post Office has taken a 1940’s theme. The first day cover that will carry the new stamps takes inspiration from the work of iconic fashion illustrator, René Gruau. A familiar figure to the fashion designers featured on the stamps and Bletchley Park’s wartime code breakers reading the fashion magazines of the day.

The double sided cover has the ten stamps set over the Union Flag with a fashionable code breaker providing the design theme for the first day of issue postmark. The well dressed code breaker on the rear reflects the combination of glamour and sensuality with humour that was such a feature of Gruau’s work.

The cover will be issued as a numbered limited edition of 500 and is only available from Bletchley Park Post Office. Price is £15 plus post & packing. It can be previewed on the web site at www.bletchleycovers.com Further information is available from BPPO, The Mansion, Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes MK3 6EB, Tel: 01908 363489

- Terry Mitchell

 

  :  Ashwani Dubey, Akhilesh Arka,Terry Mitchell

Special Cover on Railways..

 

150 Years of Locomotive Workshop, Jamalpur (Bihar)

Date of Issue : 8 February 2012

  : Ashwani Dubey - Gorakhpur

Club News

 

Smithsonian's National Postal Museum Opens New "Fire & Ice: Hindenburg and Titanic" Exhibit

 

Fire & Ice: Hindenburg and Titanic

Open March 22, 2012 to January 6, 2014

"Fire & Ice:Hindenburg and Titanic," an innovative new exhibit, opened  at the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum. The exhibit brings together two marvels of transportation. Titanic and Hindenburg served demands for rapid worldwide communication and transportation. Both operated as the world's largest mobile post offices. Each in its day promised the fastest possible worldwide mail service. Each offered onboard gentility and opulence. Each met a tragic end.

 

As the largest, fastest, and most glamorous ships of their eras, Hindenburg and Titanic share many similarities. The human tragedy associated with each stunned the world . . . a shock that affects people to this day. Both offered travelers elegant accommodations, and both provided postal services. In each era, the public trusted modern technology to provide safety and speed. And as anniversaries of the disasters are marked in 2012—seventy-five years since Hindenburg burned and a century since Titanic sank—many questions remain unanswered.

The Zeppelin Company of Friedrichshafen, Germany, completed the 804-foot long LZ-129 Hindenburg in 1936. Financed in part by the Nazi regime, the rigid airship, designed to use non-flammable helium for lift, confirmed Germany’s technological prowess as Adolf Hitler prepared for war. The U.S. refused to sell helium to the Zeppelin Company, which instead used highly flammable hydrogen for Hindenburg’s lift. On May 6, 1937, carrying ninety-seven passengers and crew, Hindenburg burst into flames at Lakehurst, New Jersey. The disaster destroyed the ship in thirty-four seconds, ending the magnificent era of lighter-than-air commercial travel.

Between 1909 and 1911, Harland & Wolff, Belfast, Ireland, built the massive, 882-foot long Titanic for Britain’s White Star Line, owned by American J.P. Morgan. On April 10, 1912, the lavish Titanic left Southampton, England, on its maiden voyage. Bound for New York, the ship hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic late night April 14, and sank in fewer than three hours.  Of its 2,229 passengers and crew, only 712 survived, predominantly women and children.

Titanic was the world's largest floating post office of its day, and Hindenburg still holds the record as the world's largest flying post office. This year-2012-the National Postal Museum raises visitors' awareness of the two giant ships' postal operations with its new exhibit. And this year-2012-both mark anniversaries. Hindenburg burned 75 years ago, and Titanic sank 100 years ago. The exhibition will be open through Jan. 6, 2014.

Exhibit highlights include a very rare piece of mail sent from Titanic and burnt mail salvaged from Hindenburg. Other items include mail, postcards, menus, photographs, keys from Titanic's post office and the salvaged postmark device from Hindenburg.

"Although many visitors to "Fire & Ice: Hindenburg and Titanic" will be very familiar with some of the iconic imagery shown, I believe that they will be amazed to see documents, artifacts and photographs that have never been publicly displayed before," said Cheryl R. Ganz, museum curator for the Hindenburg-related aspects of the exhibit. "These salvaged objects and newly discovered photos bring the story to life in new ways."

The exhibit is organized into themes that compare and contrast the large, fast, glamorous ships: 20th-century icons, technological advancements, life onboard, mail ships and disaster. Survivor stories portray the human tragedy associated with each shocking disaster: shocks that reverberate to this day.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to reflect on the hundredth anniversary of Titanic's sinking in the presence of real objects from the ship and her passengers," said Daniel Piazza, museum curator for the Titanic-related aspects of the exhibit. "A century later, her brief life and tragic end still haunt and captivate us."

Visitors will be able to recreate the onboard letter-writing experience by applying a cachet to postcards and mail that identify the item as from the exhibition. Stamps and a postmark are available in the U.S. Postal Service philatelic shop in the museum to post the cards. A booklet available in the museum's gift shop and online will accompany the exhibit.

A virtual edition of the exhibit is available on the museum's website: www.postalmuseum.si.edu/fireandice.

: Smithsonian's National Postal Museum