Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Mahatma Gandhi 1969 FDC from British Railway Post

Hello Gandhi Collectors,

In past I had seen Mahatma Gandhi FDC of UK from various post office cancellation, BFPO etc. but recently I got another rare Mahatma Gandhi FDC from United Kingdom which is very unique. It has following uniqueness from other FDC's.

1) FDC from Railway Post
2) CDS from Abolished County
3) Label used on FDC for special railway fees.(Cinderella stamps)


The United Kingdom pioneered the modern use of what it calls the Travelling Post Office (TPO), a railway service that operated for the first time in 1838. TPOs were removed from service by Royal Mail in early 2004.

In the UK road vehicles that provide postal services are known as Mobile Post Offices, to differentiate them from the (now obsolete) rail Travelling Post Offices (TPOs).

The Festiniog Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park.

The railway is roughly 13+1⁄2 miles (21.7 km) long and runs from the harbour at Porthmadog to the slate mining town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, travelling through forested and mountainous scenery.

The Festiniog Railway Letter Service is an officially authorised service within the United Kingdom railway system for posting and transmission of letters, and under certain circumstances also delivering the letters directly to intended recipients.



Above FDC is one of the rare cancelled at Penrhyndeudraeth village in Meridoth County. (The administrative county of Merioneth, created under the Local Government Act 1888, was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972 on April 1, 1974. Now it is Gwynedd County). It also has 2 Cinderella stamps(label) with 1d & 1/2s for Railway Fee is affiexed on the cover.

Until 1974, BR set the Railway Letter Fee (a complex fare structure) and this was often changed without warning or notice. The basic fee was thus increased with immediate effect from 1s. 2d. to 1s. 3d. on 26 May 1969 – just two days before the reintroduction of the service on the FR. Fortunately the FR had taken the trouble to provide themselves with 1d, 6d, 1/- and also 1s. 2d. stamps. Extra 1d and a new 1s. 3d. stamps were soon ordered from the printers.

In last 3 years I had never seen any Mahatma Gandhi 1969 FDC from UK Railway post. This is the first one I had seen on ebay, but there might be more.

If you have more information about this FDC than please write your comments so everyone knows about it.

Further Reading:
1) Festiniog Railway Letter Service


Click to see 50th Anniversary
Special Cancellation

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