Darjeeling Himalayan Railway…

 

Indian themes on foreign stamps…

- Kenneth Sequeira

 

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR)  nicknamed the "Toy Train", is a 2 ft railway from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling in West Bengal, run by the Indian Railways.

It was built between 1879 and 1881 and is about 86 kms.  Four modern diesel locomotives handle most of the scheduled services: however the daily Kurseong-Darjeeling return service and the daily tourist trains from Darjeeling to Ghum (India's highest railway station) are handled by vintage British-built B Class steam locomotives. Since 1999 the train has been a World Heritage Site as listed by UNESCO along with the Niligiri Mountain Railway as an extension to the original destination. Its the 2nd railway to have this honour bestowed upon it, after Semmering Railway of Austria.

A broad gauge railway connected Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Siliguri in 1878. Siliguri, at the base of the Himalayas, was connected to Darjeeling by a cart road (the present day Hill Cart Road) on which "Tonga services" (carriage services) were available. Franklin Prestage, an agent of Eastern Bengal Railway Company approached the government with a proposal of laying a steam tramway from Siliguri to Darjeeling. The proposal was accepted in 1879  by Sir Ashley Eden, the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal

Gillanders Arbuthnot & Co. constructed the railway. The stretch was opened on 23 August 1880, while the official opening of the line up to Darjeeling was on 4 July 1881. Despite natural calamities, such as an earthquake in 1897 and a major cyclone in 1899, the DHR continued to improve with new extension lines being built in response to growing passenger and freight traffic. However, the DHR started to face competition from bus services that started operating over the Hill Cart Road, offering a shorter journey time. During World War II, the DHR played a vital role transporting military personnel and supplies to the numerous camps around Ghum and Darjeeling.

After the independence of India, the DHR was absorbed into Indian Railways and became a part of the Northeast Frontier Railway zone in 1958. In 1962, the line was realigned at Siliguri and extended by nearly 6 km to New Jalpaiguri (NJP) to meet the new broad gauge line there.

Bhutan & Gambia released stamps on this railway line as part of the Famous Trains / Locomotives across the world.

India Post issued  a commemorative stamp on Centenary of  The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway on 18 December 1982.

- Kenneth Sequira, Dubai (UAE) : email -  kenneth.sequeira@hotmail.com

Also Read….The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and its Locomotives by Vikas Singh

Philatelic news from London Olympics 2012…

 

Gold Medal heroes on stamps

 

Australia

Tom Slingsby becomes first individual medalist to feature on 2012 Australian Gold Medallist stamp

After winning Australia's first individual gold medal of the London 2012 Olympic Games, sailing superstar and five time world champion, Tom Slingsby, will become Australia's first individual gold medalist to feature on a 2012 Australian Gold Medalist Stamp.

Stamps featuring an image of Slingsby from the gold medal dais in London will be available in participating Australia Post retail outlets from Thursday, 9 August while stocks last.

Australia Post is producing stamps for every Australian gold medalist from the London 2012 Olympic Games, and they are expected to be available in metropolitan Australia Post outlets within 48 hours of each gold medal presentation.

 

 

Women's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Team features on first 2012 Australian Gold Medallist Stamp

After their gold medal-winning performance in the Women's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay on Saturday 28 July, Alicia Coutts, Cate Campbell, Brittany Elmslie and Melanie Schlanger will be the first Australian athletes to feature on the Australian Gold Medallist Stamps for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Some best designed  Stamps on London Olympics 2012

 

Most beautiful stamp issued for LONDON 2012 !!

Slovakia

During these Olympic Games, 10,500 athletes from 204 countries are struggling for 302 collections of medals in 26 Olympic sports.

The first Paralympic Games for physically handicapped sportsmen, mostly British soldiers - disabled people from WWII, were held on 29th July1948. It took place on the same day as the Opening Ceremony of the XIV Olympic Games. The Paralympic Games are coming back to its cradle with a wide-ranging schedule for more than 4,000 contestants from 166 countries who are participating in 21 disciplines.

Besides the traditional Olympic disciplines (light athletics, swimming, weightlifting, fencing, equestrian disciplines, cycling, rowing, yachting) or games (football, volleyball, basketball, rugby, tennis, table tennis),an extremely popular game of boccia or goalball has also been introduced.. It was devised after WWII as a ball game for visually impaired soldiers. It is played in silence and players try to throw a ball that has bells embedded in it into the opponent's goal. The players do not see the ball; they only hear it. But after the goal, the applause is a legitimate doping!

Costa Rica

Portugal

Date of Issue : 19 June 2012

 

From our Readers…..

Stamps on ‘WORLD HERITAGE’

- Pradip Kumar Malik

HIGH COAST (SWEDEN)

The High Coast is located on the west shore of the Gulf of Bothnia, a northern extension of the Baltic Sea. The area covers 142,500 ha including a marine component of 80,000 ha, which includes a number of offshore islands. UNESCO designated High Coast as World Heritage property in 2000 for being an outstanding example representing major stages of Earth’s history.

Sweden 2005

Se-tenant set of four stamps, with views of the High Coast. In the lower selvedge, stamps are inscribed in Swedish "Världsarvet Höga Kusten" (World Heritage High Coast). The stamps are from a booklet pane of eight stamps, and are perforated on three sides.

The irregular topography of the region - a series of lakes, inlets and flat hills rising to 350 m - has been largely shaped by the combined processes of glaciations, glacial retreat and the emergence of new land from the sea. Since the last retreat of the ice from the High Coast 9,600 years ago, the uplift has been in the order of 285 m which is the highest known 'rebound'.

The High Coast site affords outstanding opportunities for the understanding of the important processes that formed the glaciated and land uplift areas of the Earth's surface. The site is one of the places in the world that is experiencing isostatic uplift as a result of deglaciation. Isostatic rebound is well-illustrated and the distinctiveness of the site is the extent of the total isostatic uplift which, at 294m, exceeds others.

Mr Pradeep Kumar Malik may be contacted at email : mallikphila@gmail.com

World Heritage Sites..

 

UNESCO – World Heritage  Sites

(Part – 6)

Check List for the Stamps issued worldwide in 2011 related to the theme of ‘UNESCO - World Heritage

: Pradeep Kumar Malik

 

OCTOBER 2011:

Vilnius Historic Centre – World Heritage Object (Lithuania): Lithuania issued a set of two stamps on World Heritage object. The stamps depicted with World Heritage monuments in ‘Vilnius Historic Centre’ namely – St. John Church and Ausros Vartai (Gate of Dawn).

A to Z series (Great Britain): The first set of ten stamps of A to Z series of Great Britain stamps was issued in October 2011. Three World Hertages namely – ‘Edinburg Castle’; ‘Harlech Castle of Gwynedd’ and ‘Ironbridge’ are figured on three stamps of this set.

Zacatecas (Mexico): A stamp showing the architecture of ‘Historic Centre of Zacatecas’, a World Heritage site, was issued to commemorate the 25^th anniversary of Zacatecas Hospital.

NOVEMBER 2011:

UNESCO (France): The picturesque landscape of Milford Sound was the subject of 2011 UNESCO stamp of French Postal Administration. Milford Sound is the part of World Heritage site – ‘Te Wahipounamu, South West New Zealand’.

Saint Sofia Cathedral (Ukraine): A setenant stamp of two values was issued in Ukraine to commemorate the 1000 years of foundation laying of the ‘Saint Sofia Cathedral in Kiev’, a World Heritage monument. Frescoes inside the cathedral were depicted over stamps, whereas the cathedral building and the logos of ‘UNESCO’ and ‘World Heritage’ are shown on the gutter label.

DECEMBER 2011:

Monasteries of Haghpat and Sanahin (Armenia): A Souvenir Sheet of two stamps on World Heritage monuments of the ‘Monasteries of Haghpat and sanahin’ was released by the postal authority of Armenia. The logo of UNESCO is also depicted over this Souvenir Sheet.

Mr Pradeep Kumar Malik may be contacted at email : mallikphila@gmail.com

 

My Recent Covers…

Thanks to  Jan Dziurka, Monchengladbach - Germany

Stamps on London Olympics…

 

Poland

Romania

HI! In this post view some most beautiful stamps issued for London Olympics !! For more stamps on Olympics view Ganesh’s Blog :  My Olympic Philately and Jagannath Mani’s Blog :  http://olympicgamesphilately.blogspot.in/  .

 

Ukraine

Bulgaria

Serbia

 

View : More stamps on Olympics

UNESCO – World Heritage  Sites

(Part – 5)

Check List for the Stamps issued worldwide in 2011 related to the theme of ‘UNESCO - World Heritage

 : Pradeep Kumar Malik

Belarus – Iran Joint issue: A souvenir sheet with two stamps of ‘Priority Letter’ rate was issued as Belarus – Iran joint issue. Mir Castle, a world Heritage monument, is depicted on one of the stamp of this souvenir sheet.

Cape Floral Region (South Africa): South Africa issued a sheetlet with ten different self-adhesive stamps of ‘B5 size Cover’ rate on the flora and fauna of ‘Cape Floral Region’, a World Natural Heritage site.

Grand Place at Brussels (Belgium): Belgium released a Souvenir Sheet with five stamps of ‘1st Level Standard letter (up to 50 grams)’ rate with picture of the buildings at Grand Place at Brussels, a World Heritage site.

 

Romania – Germany Joint issue: The fortified Church of Biertan, World Heritage monument was depicted over the stamp issued as Romania – Germany Joint issue.

Old City of Luxembourg: As SEPAC (Small European Postal Administrations Corporation) 2011 stamp, Luxembourg issued a stamp showing the landscape of the ‘Old City of Luxembourg’, a World Heritage Site.

Mr Pradeep Kumar Malik may be contacted at email : mallikphila@gmail.com

To be contd….

My recent covers…

 

Germany

 

 

 

 

 

Wolfgang Beyer - Limbach-Oberfrohna , Germany

 

Stamps issued by Germany and Poland on 12 July 2012

Muskauer Park / Park Mużakowski  (UNESCO World Heritage Site)

A landscaped park of 559.9 ha astride the Neisse River and the border between Poland and Germany, it was created by Prince Hermann von Puckler-Muskau from 1815 to 1844. Blending seamlessly with the surrounding farmed landscape, the park pioneered new approaches to landscape design and influenced the development of landscape architecture in Europe and America. Designed as a ‘painting with plants’, it did not seek to evoke classical landscapes, paradise, or some lost perfection, instead using local plants to enhance the inherent qualities of the existing landscape. This integrated landscape extends into the town of Muskau with green passages that formed urban parks framing areas for development. The town thus became a design component in a utopian landscape. The site also features a reconstructed castle, bridges and an arboretum.

Read More…

Note – It is a coincidence that I received . covers for Muskauer Park / Park Mużakowski  ( UNESCO World Heritage Site)  from Germany ( Shown above) and Poland both… The cover from Poland ( below) shows First Day cancellation of the stamp ( 12 July 2012) which depicts the boundaries of Park between Poland and Germany.

 

 

Andrzej Bek -  Nowy Sącz, Poland

 

Stamp of the Past ….

 

 

The two month exhibition, Stamp of the Past : Indian Heritage in Philately concluded on 17th July at Red Fort,  Delhi. The participants, Ajay Mittal, Nidhi Mittal- New Delhi,Timir Shah – Vadodara, Pradeep Kr. Malik – Patna, Moloy Sarkar –Kolkata and Jeevan Jyoti   were honoured by ASI at a function held at the venue of the exhibition. However Mr Moloy Sarkar and Mr Pradeep Kr Malik could not attend this grand function. This exhibition was very successful and attended by large number of philatelists and tourists from India and abroad as Red Fort is the landmark of Delhi and one of the greatest attractions for the tourists visiting India from all over the world . I got a chance to attend this function. Here are the glimpses of the show.

 

Mr Ajay Mittal was given special honour at the show. Mr Mittal was the main co-coordinator with ASI to make this show grand and successful.

 

J.Jyoti

Mrs. Nidhi Mittal receiving Momento

From (L to R) Ajay Srivastav, Timir Shah, Ajay Mittal, Nidhi Mittal and J. Jyoti