London Underground, United KIngdom

Good Sunday to all! This is gonna be a scheduled post since I will be away for the weekend, but I hope it turns out fine.

U may seem like a tricky letter when it comes to stamps but it surely isn't as near as tricky and challenging as X, to which we shall come very soon indeed :D

While the subject may not be something spectacular, still I really love these two FDCs issued by Royal Mail, celebrating 150 years of the London Underground... wow, it is quite unimaginable to me that back in 1863 something as an underground had been a means of transport. (it is the first Underground in the world).

The stamps were issued on 9th January 2013 which marks the exact date of the opening of the Metropolitan Railway between Paddington Station and Farringdon Street – the first part of what was to become the London Underground.

The first FDC bears six stamps, showing the timeline of the development of the London Underground, ranging from the first steam driven Metropolitan Line service through to a striking image of Canary Wharf, the most modern Jubilee Line station.

2nd class stamp - Metropolitan Railway opens
2nd class stamp - Tunneling below London streets
1st class stamp - Commute from the suburbs
1st class stamp - Boston Manor Art Deco Station
£1.28 stamp - Classic Rolling Stock
£1.28 stamp - Jubilee Line at  Canary Wharf

The second FDC features a four stamp miniature sheet focusing on the design heritage of London Underground posters.

The pictorial poster was a distinctive and highly effective medium for promoting all aspects of the London Underground and later London Transport.The visual images brought modern art and design to a huge audience and many of the artists commissioned were influenced by the avant-garde European art movements of the early 20th century.
This brought Cubism, Futurism and Vorticism to the general public of Britain and the four stamps have three classic London Underground posters on each.

Btw, I have taken the London Underground.....quite some long time ago. That was my first experience with this means of transport...but I found it super cool, esp. since, you know, coming from a city with less than 1.000.000 inhabitants, where you are used to riding on buses only - something like an Underground is quite an experience... esp. once you figure out how it works and can make it on your own, and be able to get simply anywhere in London.


 Check out the other cool U-topics on the Sunday Stamps blog.

Thomas the Tank Engine, UK

Some days ago my mailbox was again pleasantly treated and surprised by Silvan, who had ordered for me two fantastic items! I honestly didnt even know this issue was released until I opened the envelopes! And what do I see inside?? The lovely Thomas the Tank Engine!
In case you havent watched the cartoons, you should spare some time and do so...and dont worry for looking 'childish'...I personally have been downloading these series too, and try to watch an episode or two every now and then when I manage to grab some free time....Thomas is one very cute engine :)

the Royal Mail had issued several items this year, and what I must point out here (or brag about) is that the two items i had received are considered 'special issues', since they were available only on issue date and cant be purchased anymore...at least not from Royal Mail, but maybe you can find them from someone who has bought them and can give them to you.
The above envelope is an FDC with stamps, while the one below contains the mini sheet of four stamps.

Do you actually know how Thomas was born?
It all started with Wilbert Awdry, whose passion for railways had been instilled in him by his clergyman father, Vere, and when Wilbert himself had a family, he shared his railway enthusiasm with his own son, Christopher. It was while two-year-old Christopher was suffering with measles that Wilbert tried to enliven his son's bed-bound quarantine by telling stories and drawing pictures about a group of little engines. He wrote down the stories, and was encouraged by his wife to get his work into print. Eventually in May 1945, The Three Railway Engines - featuring 'Edward's day out', 'Edward and Gordon', 'The Sad Story of Henry' and 'Edward, Gordon and Henry' - was published, and soon more than 45,000 copies had been sold. Between 1945 and 1972, Reverend Awdry wrote 26 volumes in The Railway Series, and in 1983 Christopher began writing stories for the series. A year later, the engines of Sodor were brought to the small screen courtesy of television producer Britt Allcroft.  Filmed in 'live-action model animation', Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends enjoyed almost instant success. Since September 1984, 348 episodes and 14 series have been broadcast, the last two series produced in full computer-generated imagery. With over 200 million books sold globally, and the programmes viewed by more than a billion households worldwide every week, Thomas & Friends continues to entertain and delight the children throughout the world.

technical specifications:


Date of issue: 14 June 2011
Process of printing: lithography
Format: landscape
Phosphor: all over
Number of stamps: 6
Size: 60mm x 21 mm
Perforations: 14.5 x 14.5


number of stamps in the mini sheet: 4
sheet size: 115mm x 89mm
Size: 41mm x 30mm
Perforations: 14.5 x 14


So if you are having a lazy weekend and the weather outside aint really convinent for outdoor activities, make some popocorn or get some snacks and enjoy some time with Thomas and his friends.

And thank sooo much Silvan for always bringing such pleasure to my mailbox!

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

Great British Railways, UK

Sometimes I dont know how I have managed to meet such great people, but they surely have been a treasure to have in life coz they so selflessly love to surprise me with not only great postcards, but fantastic philatelic items as well.

The last great surprise came from dear Silvan from Malta, who especially for me had ordered this amazing FDC which made me jump of joy when I found it in my mailbox!
It was issued by the Royal Mail in order to commemorate the 50th anniversary of British Rail’s last steam locomotive, the 9F Class ‘Evening Star’.

This is the first in a series of Special Stamp issues commemorating classic British locomotives, which will continue with a number of Miniature Sheets from 2011 onwards!!!!!!!!!!!


Number of stamps: six
Date of issue: 19 August 2010
Stamp Format: Landscape
Stamp Size: 41mm x 30mm
Print Process: Gravure
Number per Sheet: 25/50
Perforations: 14.5 x 14
Phosphor: All over
Gum: PVA


In 1923 over 120 railway companies were merged into the Big Four, comprising the London, Midland and Scottish (including the Northern Counties Committee NCC in Northern Ireland), the Londong & Northern Eastern, the Great Western and the Southern Railways. Together they combined traditional British engineering excellence with innovative publicity. After the Second World War, however, the railways had become so run down that they were nationalised as British Railways in 1948. In March 1960, Evening Star brought to an end more than 130 years of steam-locomotive building for Britain's mainline railways.

Some details about each stamp:

1st Class – LMS Coronation Class

The streamlined Coronation Class locomotive ‘Coronation’ of the London Midland and Scottish Railway is seen here at Euston Station in 1938. Named in honour of the accession of King George VI, a Coronation Class locomotive was displayed at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.



1st Class – BR Class 9F

This photograph of ‘Evening Star’, the last of the British Rail Class 9F locomotives was taken at Midsomer Norton in 1962. The 9F was originally designed to pull heavy freight trains, but a few, like Evening Star, were used on passenger services, particularly on the steeply graded Somerset and Dorset line.



67p – GWR King Class

The photograph shows the Great Western Railway’s King Class locomotive ‘King William IV’ near Teignmouth in 1935. The Kings were the GWR’s star locomotives, able to pull heavy holiday trains and as well as expresses. Hailed as the UK’s most powerful steam engine, the ‘King George V’ toured the USA in 1927.


67p – LNER Class A1

This London North East Region Class A1 locomotive, ‘Royal Lancer’, was photographed in 1929. The LNER’s most famous A1 was the ‘Flying Scotsman’, the first UK steam engine to reach 100mph. Modernised from the 1930s, A1s were still pulling important passenger trains right into the 1960s.


97p – LMS NCC Class WT

The London Midland and Scottish Northern Counties Committee Class WT, ‘Engine No 2’, is pictured at Larne Harbour in the late 1940s. Based on a standard LMS design but built for the wider Irish track, the WTs were the last new steam locomotives delivered to the NCC and were widely known as ‘Jeeps’.



97p – SR King Arthur Class

This Southern Region King Arthur Class locomotive, ‘Sir Mador de la Porte’, was photographed at Bournemouth Central Station in the late 1930s. These fine locomotives once handled the Southern’s heaviest express trains, but were relegated to pulling less glamorous services from the 1940s.


Thank you soooo much Silvan!!!!