Railway cover


Robinr Mozzerb and others,

Here's a mystery - for me at least - this cover appears to have been used and delivered, presumably to the head office of Southern Railway. But does the parcel payment receipt mean it was handed in direct to the railway, and accepted as a parcel? The heavy staple holes at the top suggest it might have been attached to something else, and the cover has certainly seen some wear.

I'm wondering what level of interest or curiosity this is...

Cheers, Robin 		9 Sep 10
#1279
mozzerb That's quite a nice one (pity about the stains). I think the station address is coincidental and it's not a parcel -- it's a 'railway letter'.

That was a concessionary express service which allowed a letter to be speeded up by being put directly on board a train going to where it was addressed. It could be delivered in the ordinary way at the other end (a much better proposition when there were several deliveries a day!), or collected from the station, or delivered by special messenger. In this case, it would have in effect been 'collected' -- presumably it was just handed in to the station master's office.

You still had to pay the regular postage, hence the 1½d stamp -- they were usually cancelled by the railway with whatever handstamp was to hand. Originally, when the service was introduced in 1891, there were special railway letter stamps for payment of the railway company's fee. These ceased to be used in the early 1920s and from then on the companies just used their same ticket-like stamps they used for their parcel service, hence the stamp on this cover. 		10 Sep 10
#1280
Robinr
Quoted from #1280

That's quite a nice one (pity about the stains). I think the station address is coincidental and it's not a parcel -- it's a 'railway letter'.

That was a concessionary express service which allowed a letter to be speeded up by being put directly on board a train going to where it was addressed. It could be delivered in the ordinary way at the other end (a much better proposition when there were several deliveries a day!), or collected from the station, or delivered by special messenger. In this case, it would have in effect been 'collected' -- presumably it was just handed in to the station master's office.

You still had to pay the regular postage, hence the 1½d stamp -- they were usually cancelled by the railway with whatever handstamp was to hand. Originally, when the service was introduced in 1891, there were special railway letter stamps for payment of the railway company's fee. These ceased to be used in the early 1920s and from then on the companies just used their same ticket-like stamps they used for their parcel service, hence the stamp on this cover.
To Mozzerb, Might I ask you a question off site? If so, let me know at Cheers, Robin 		10 Sep 10
#1284
Robinr
Quoted from #1280

That's quite a nice one (pity about the stains). I think the station address is coincidental and it's not a parcel -- it's a 'railway letter'.

That was a concessionary express service which allowed a letter to be speeded up by being put directly on board a train going to where it was addressed. It could be delivered in the ordinary way at the other end (a much better proposition when there were several deliveries a day!), or collected from the station, or delivered by special messenger. In this case, it would have in effect been 'collected' -- presumably it was just handed in to the station master's office.

You still had to pay the regular postage, hence the 1½d stamp -- they were usually cancelled by the railway with whatever handstamp was to hand. Originally, when the service was introduced in 1891, there were special railway letter stamps for payment of the railway company's fee. These ceased to be used in the early 1920s and from then on the companies just used their same ticket-like stamps they used for their parcel service, hence the stamp on this cover.
Hmmm, my address was deleted. I wonder if that was intentional? If this fails, I'll accept it as policy and give up. robinrestall@gmail.com 		10 Sep 10
#1285
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