Classic Locomotives of England, UK

Once again Silvan made me and my mailbox overwhelmed with joy with this absolutely fantastic surprise! It is hard  to describe how fantastic it is! And this is a very recent issue, which makes me even more proud to have it :)

Royal Mail pays tribute to the ‘workhorses’ of the railways; many of which had working lives of several decades before diesel and electric technology completely took over in the 1960s.

Classic Locomotives of England is the first in a new series featuring steam locomotives, used not just on the public railway network, but also in many industrial locations like factories, quarries and docks.

1st Class Stamp – BR Dean Goods No. 2532
A Newbury bound British Railways local service Dean Goods Class locomotive at East Garton photographed in 1951. These sturdy Victorian goods locomotives saw a great deal of use in both world wars, but by the 1950s they had been relegated to light duties, such as hauling passenger trains on rural branch lines.

60p Stamp – Peckett R2 Thor
This Peckett 1689, named Thor was built in 1925 for the Tunnel Cement company of Purfleet, Essex. Compact, powerful and rugged, industrial locomotives were the all-purpose workhorses of plants such as Tunnel Cement and many were used continuously for several decades. The loco spent its entire life at Thurrock - where the photo was taken - and it was scrapped there in March 1965.

88p Stamp – L & YR 1093 No. 1100
The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway locomotive photographed here at Liverpool Exchange Station in 1909 is pulling the 2.10 to Hull. From the middle of the 19th century, British companies offered integrated travel to continental Europe, combining rail services with steamships which sailed from ports around the United Kingdom

97p Stamp – BR WD No. 90662
During the Second World War heavy-freight “Austerity”’ locomotives were built for military service, transporting goods and troops. Before the Normandy Landings, the Army had very little use for these locomotives, so they were loaned to the "Big Four" railway companies. After June 1944, "Austerity" locomotives were shipped out to France. Eventually British Rail had 733 of these locos.

Technical Details

Number of stamps:   four
Size of sheet:           179mm x 74mm
Stamp Format:        Landscape
Stamp Size:            41mm x 30mm
Print Process:         Lithography
Perforations:           14.5 x 14
Phosphor:               All over
Gum:                      PVA

Technical monuments - Narrow gauge railways, Lithuania

A great Lithuanian cover franked with the two train stamps issued in 2002.

In Lithuania the first narrow-gauge railways were built at the end of the 19th century. In 1939, the total narrow-gauge network was comprised of 407 kilometers of lines.
Later narrow-gauge railways were dismantled or replaced by broad-gauge railways.
In 1996, the remaining narrow-gauge railway lines between Panevėžys and Rubikiai, Panevėžys and Biržai, and Joniškėlis and Linkuva were included into the Register of Immovable Cultural Values of Lithuania.
At present, the narrow-gauge railway line between Panevėžys and Rubikiai is used for the local tourism purposes.

Date of Issue:    8 June 2002
Width:              39.0 mm
Height:              26.0 mm
Perforations:     12 by 12

the 1,30 Lt Face value stamp shows a Diesel Locomotive TU2, while the 2 Lt stamps shows a Steam locomotive PT4.

EUROPA, Liechtenstein

Dear Sara sent me this very nice envelope from Liechtenstein with the EUROPA stamps from 2010. You know (probably) that EUROPA is not my primary theme of collection, however, I can never say no to a nice cover with EUROPA stamps. And the envelope is so fitting to the theme :)

For the 2010 theme, Liechtenstein immortalised on a commemorative stamp a classic of Liechtenstein children’s literature: “Lisa and Max” (face value CHF 1.40). Since 1992, when the first book in this series (“Der Wunschhund“/“The Perfect Dog”) appeared, these popular picture-books have followed the twins Lisa and Max and their dog Mischa on their adventures in Liechtenstein. Each of the stories published to date takes place in a different month and in a different one of the Principality’s eleven communities. Each of these monthly books focuses on a distinctive Liechtenstein tradition: “The Shrovetide Procession”, “The Spark Sunday Witch”, “The Easter Treasure”, “The Birthday Castle”, “The Phantom of the Corpus Christi Procession”, “The Mountain Walk”, “The Prince’s Birthday”, “The Return from the Mountains”. In 2011 the series will be continued with the October book. In 2007 the “Lisa and Max Fairy-tale Trail” was opened in Malbun in the Liechtenstein Alps.

The subject depicted on the stamp and designed by Mariagrazia Orlandini is that illustrated on the title page of the August story “The Prince’s Birthday” which appeared in 2001. The “Prince’s Birthday” is synonymous with Liechtenstein’s national holiday, celebrated every year on 15th August. This festive occasion, which was first held in 1940 and arose from combining the Feast of the Assumption (15th August) with the birthday of the then Prince Franz Josef II (16th August), has since 1990 always taken the same form: The official act of state begins with an open-air mass followed by festive speeches on the castle meadow. Afterwards the Prince and Princess invite everyone to a public reception in the castle gardens. In the early afternoon in the centre of Vaduz the informal celebrations begin, which every year bring thousands of visitors into the “Städtle” and whose climax includes a firework display from the castle rock.

technical details:

Date of Issue:         6 September 2010
Subject:                 Europa 2010 - For Children
Width:                   30.0 mm
Height:                   34.0 mm
Denomination:        1.40 CHF
Number in set:       1
Layout/Format:      sheet of 20
Perforations:          14 by 14