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The Rail Philatelist May 2000 Newsletter |
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The Rail Philatelist May 2000 Newsletter |
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The
Rail Philatelist
Volume 5 …………… PRICE $1.00 (10 ISSUES FOR $8.00)……………. Number 4 May 1, 2000
Dear Fellow Rail Philatelist:
My apologies
for the delay in getting this out to you. I had planned to get more work done on
the G and H lists in between WESTPEX and the Las Vegas GATS but several trains
got in the way. More on that next month.
BEST TRAIN STAMP:
Frankly, I was disappointed in the response to my request for the best train
stamp. I expected hundreds of votes but received only a handful so I don’t feel
the results are statistically valid. Nevertheless, here they
are:
1. US #295 Empire
State Express
2. New Brunswick #6
Steam Locomotive
3. Gambia #1114-9
Various Cabooses
4. US #3333-7 All
Aboard Streamliners
5. Mongolia #134 Steam
Train
Honorable mentions: US
#114, Iran #793, Costa Rica #C159 (All three Steam Locos)
THE STAMP HOBBY...:
Thanks again to Michael Laurence, Editor/publisher of LINNS STAMP
NEWS for this insight from
his APS Tiffany Dinner speech:
“4. The stamp hobby is
harmless. This perhaps doesn’t even deserve consideration, except that in an era
when extreme sports are so popular that they get their own commemorative stamps,
when bungee jumping and sky-diving and whitewater rafting and vertical
cliff-climbing are popular leisure-time diversions, amongst all this risk-taking
there's something to be said for a hobby that entertains individuals in the
quiet of their own little rooms. The social costs of stamp collecting are tiny,
the spiritual benefits vast.”
APRIL TRAVEL: An
overnight snow storm made my drive to Denver for the Colorado Stamp Bonanza show
a bit sporting but the drive home was even more interesting. The roads had
cleared for the drive home and I was speeding along with the traffic at 70 mph
just North of Castle Rock when a rear tire blew. I managed to control the car
and get from the left lane over to the right shoulder but there wasn’t much room
to pull off because of guard rails along the hill. I started to roll the car
further down the hill but was concerned a bout ruining the rim since the tire
was mostly gone. A good Samaritan stopped to see if I needed a ride into town. I
told him “Thanks. I’ve got a spare so I’ll change it here.” When I bought the
car used I had checked to make sure there was a jack. Unfortunately, there was
but the lug wrench was missing. Since I didn’t savor trying to get the lug nuts
off using a crescent wrench with my rear end sticking out in rush hour traffic,
I called AAA. They said some one would be there in an hour or less. An hour
later I called again and was told he was on his way and would be there in 15
minutes. A half hour later I called again and was told he should be there. The
operator held on the line until he finally showed up. he apologized for the
delay saying that the other two trucks were out on calls and he had had to jump
start this truck to get here and it was nearly out of gas. A t that point his
truck died, so we had no headlights to see to change the tire and no flashing
lights to warn others of our presence. He got the tire changed with little
trouble but as usual it needed some air. I offered him a ride into town but he
said he would coast his truck down the hill into town when I pulled out of the
way. I pulled off in Castle Rock to get some air in the tire but found the free
air pump at the nearest station broken so I drove across the highway and paid
50c for some air. By that time a light snow had been falling and starting to
freeze so traffic crawled along at 20-30 mph the 40 miles to home. Saturday
morning I took the car into Firestone to have the tire replaced. They told me
some of the blown tire had been wrapped around my brake line and had locked my
rear brakes. So it was a good thing I couldn’t get up to speed on the way home.
Got back to Denver just as the show opened Saturday morning and ended up having
a good show. Ah! The joys of travel.
ALBUM GEN: Tom & Karen Tullos, new customers I
met at the Colorado Stamp Bonanza, showed me the beautiful album pages they are
making for their “Rails & Sails” collection. They even create colored frames
around each stamp that match the primary color of the stamp on their Gold
Parchment Paper pages. Hardware used is a
simple PC and an HP color Inkjet printer. The ALBUM GEN software is available
for $49.95 from SoftPro 2010 Inc. They were enthusiastic about how easy it was
to use. See advertisements in STAMP COLLECTOR or visit the web page
http://www.members.home.net/ezstamp/index.htm.
STAMP OF THE MONTH:
Tom Vincenti writes: “FYI - CANADA Scott #311-4 issued for the centenary of
Canadian stamps 1951. According to Bodil(?) ‘Stamps & Railways’ by James
Watson (c.1960) all four stamps may be included in railroad sets. #311 - Train
(of course) supposed to be Bytown & Prescott Railway. #312 - Steamship
“Prince George” operated by CNR. Sidewheeler ‘City of Toronto’ - home port-
Prescott. #313 - Four engine Canadair ‘North star’ skyliner, used by
Trans-Canada Airlines was owned by CNR (at least in 1960). #314 - Stamp on stamp
of Canada Scott #1 - Beaver is an emblem of CPR and original design of three
penny beaver stamp of 1851 was by Sir Stanford Fleming (Scott #739 (a railway
pioneer)). Even though both RAILWAYS OF THE WORLD ON STAMPS by Burkhalter
(c.1996) & Stanley Gibbons COLLECT RAILWAYS ON STAMPS (c.1986) list
only #311 as train stamp, I thought Watson’s history was interesting. It’s an
inexpensive set with a lot of background. Of course, if you include #314, then
#1 becomes an expensive ‘must’ for a complete collection.” Thanks for sharing
the info Tom!
RAIL THOUGHT OF THE
MONTH: “Our gravy train has been derailed” Cartoon “The Lockhorns” by Bill Hart.
A lot of dot.com investors are probably saying the same thing about
now!
RAIL FACTS AND FEATS:
Postponed original RFAF as Tom Vincenti also wrote “My hometown is situated on
the Northeast corridor. AMTRAK (old Pennsy) & CSX (old B&O) run right
through town and then cross bridges over the Susquehanna River. According to
Guiness RAIL- THE RECORDS by John Marshall (c.1985) - 1st RR car ferry in
USA, the ‘Susquehanna’ operated between Havre de Grace & Perryville, MD
beginning 1836. In winter of 1852, the river froze so solidly that rails were
layed on the ice. Between 15 Jan & 24 Feb, 1,378 freight & other cars
were hauled across (by cable). Railroad was old Philadelphia, Wilmington and
Baltimore.” Thanks again, Tom!
AL
PETERSON
JOIN THE CASEY JONES
RAILROAD UNIT OF THE AMERICAN TOPICAL ASSOCIATION
Dues $8.00. Contact
Oliver Atchison, PO Box 31631, San Francisco, CA 94131
COME SEE MY EXTENSIVE
INVENTORY AT ONE OF THESE FINE SHOWS!
JUN 16-18 NATIONAL TOPICAL STAMP
SHOW BUFFALO
CONVENTION CENTER BUFFALO,NY
News & Notes Back Issues
| Oct. 1996 |
Nov. 1996 | Dec. 1996 |
|
Jan. 1997 | Feb. 1997 |
Mar. 1997 | Apr. 1997 |
May 1997 |
June 1997 |
| July 1997 |
Aug. 1997 | Sept. 1997 |
Oct. 1997 | Nov. 1997 |
Dec. 1997 |
|
Jan. 1998 | Feb. 1998 |
Mar. 1998 | Apr. 1998 |
May 1998 | June 1998 |
|
July 1998 | Aug. 1998 |
Sept. 1998 | Oct. 1998 |
Nov. 1998 | Dec. 1998 |
|
Jan. 1999 | Feb. 1999 |
Mar. 1999 | Apr. 1999 |
May 1999 | June 1999 |
|
July 1999 | Aug. 1999 |
Sept. 1999 | Oct. 1999 |
Nov. 1999 | Dec. 1999 |
|
Jan. 2000 | Feb. 2000 |
Mar. 2000 |
Apr.. 2000 |
