Sunday, March 13, 2011

Dutch Trains, The Netherlands

In 2005, the Netherlands issued stamps on railways and Paul was very kind and sent me both the FDC and the set of mint stamps!


It is a set of four stamps showing typical Dutch trains, issued in a sheet of 10, on the occasion of the reopening of the Utrecht Railway Museum which was renovated.


The stamp in the top left corner shows the Blue Angel. It got its name from the famous movie "Der Blaue Engel" from 1929 featuring Marlène Dietrich. This train is now to be seen in the Utrecht railway museum. Its official name is DE 41 and it was introduced in 1953. It could contain 73 passengers.

Next to it, in the top right corner is the steam locomotive 3737. It ran services till 1957. One still survives and is operational. It sometimes carries out special rides.

In the bottom left corner is the Intercity Express train. It is a German ICE train which can reach speeds up to 330 kilometers per hour on special high speed track, not available in the Netherlands at the moment these stamps were issued.

Next to it, in the bottom right corner is the Front Runner (Koploper), which is in use since 1977. The train driver is high above the passenger compartment, which makes it possible to couple carriages without obstructing the way through to the next carriage. It was also the first train in which benches were not only placed opposite each other but behind each other as well

Technical Details:


Date of issue: 14.10.2005
Value of each stamp: 0,39 euros
Paper: non-phosphorescent with phosphorescent beam
Print: offset
Perforation: 14½
Watermark: none

Thank you so much again Paul!!!! 

1 comment:

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    ReplyDelete