Royal Scot

This is my very first received PHQ card. I was not aware that they are so many, although I saw them mentioned on quite a few postcrossers wishlists.
Part of a 5 pieces series (#81 Famous Trains: a tribute to the age of the steam locomotive), the card is a reproduction of a stamp designed by Terence Cuneo and issued by the British Post Office on 22 January 1985.
Royal Scot was an express passenger train service that has been running between London Euston and Glasgow Central since 1862 on West Coast Main Line, mirroring the East Coast Main Line famous train Flying Scotsman. The LMS Coronation Class locomotive in the picture bears No. 46243 and was called City of Lancaster 'Duchess Pacific'.
The postcard have a 2.50$ (ND 2014) Canadian stamp since it was posted from here and it's a reproduction of  Railcuts #1, one of the Edward Burtynsky’s photographs.

Thank You, Fiona !

Country: United Kingdom (but sent from Canada)

Description: Royal Scot with locomotive City of Lancaster 'Duchess Pacific' Class No. 46243

Publisher: The House of Questa Ltd. London

Glenelg Tram

This is a  H Class Adelaide tram. They were built in 1929 by Pengelley and Co, specifically for the Glenelg line and commenced operations on 14 December 1929. In 1930 the 376 tram (the one in the postcard) was fitted with a Simens Schukert pantograph. Incredibly, 4 of the cars remained in limited heritage service until of 2009, nearly 80 years after they were introduced. They have many of the characteristics of American interurban streetcars of that period an respect a classic Tuscan Red and cream exterior colour scheme. In 2000 five H-class were specially refurbished with the intention of retaining these cars for special weekend and holiday operations. 

There is no stamp on the card, except an imprinted "postage pre-paid" as seen here. The stamp in the front is also imprinted and it's an Australian 1878 horse driven tram. The real stam was issued in 1989.

Thank YOU, Agnieszka !

Country: Australia

Description: Glenelg H-Class Tram on Jetty Rd.

Photo: Ron Ryan
Location: Mosley Square, Adelaide

Twilight Express

This beautiful train came from Japan and is called Twilight Express. Its service started in July 1989, initially operating as a charter. In the following years other coaches were introduced. Between 2001-2002 the coaches underwent a program of interior refurbishment. But sadly, at the beginning of next year, its services are scheduled to be discontinued. The train shown in the postcard have an EF81 electric locomotive and runs on the Kosei railway line, operated by JR West.

The stamp belongs to a 10 stamps serie issued in October 2013 and shows the 1957 Odakyu 3000 romancecar.

Thank You, Nozomi !

Country: Japan

Description: Twilight Express on Kosei

Photo: Akira Yuasa

Russian P36-0001 locomotive

First official Russian card arrived in my mailbox today. It's a vintage passenger steam locomotive locomotive built in 1950 at Kolomna under the name P36-0001, being the prototype of P36 class. The locomotive worked on October '50 on the Moscow-Kursk, Moscow-Ryazan and East Siberian Railways. Now it is exhibited  in the Rizhsky rail terminal (Рижский вокзал) that hosts several trains and locomotives for the Moscow Railway Museum or MZD.

About the stamps.

The 20 rubles (2013) shows "Usyskin" Gunboat (канонерская лодка "Усыскин") part of the Volga Flotilla. For participation in the defense of Stalingrad (1945) it was awarded with the Order of the Red Banner (Краснознамённая).

The 10 rubles (2008) shows a bear from the Russian fauna.

Thank You, Natalya !

Country: Russia

Description: P36-0001 passenger steam locomotive (1950)

Photo: Yulia Makarkina

Location: Rizhsky rail terminal

The Flying Scotsman by Kevin Walsh

 

This official card came in my inbox yesterday, traveling from Finland. It's a reproduction of one of Kevin Walsh paintings: Watching the Flying Scotsman. The original artwork is larger and contains extra: a postman with a car who collects the mail in the right and a tractor on the left hill.

Kevin Walsh is British artist and his works have been reproduced on many greeting cards, jigsaw puzzles or collectors plates.

The Flying Scotsman may reffer at two things:

1. Is an express passenger train service that has been running between London (England) and Edinburgh (Scotland) since 1862.

2. Is the famous steam locomotive (No. 4472 Flying Scotsman) built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER).

Some notable things about this locomotive: 

- first steam locomotive to achieve a fully authenticated speed of 100 mph (160km/h)
- between 1988-1989 it toured Australia, where at one point it recorded the longest ever non-stop run by a steam locomotive, travelling 679 km

- capacity: 8 tons of coal and 22.730 liters of water
- total mileage: over 4.000.000 km

You could read more on the dedicated website.

About the stamp. It looks awesome with its irregular shape and is one of the two thematic stamps designed by the graphic artist Klaus Welpin. Stamps were issued in 2014 to celebrate the legendary Finnjet cruise ferry, which operated between Helsinki and Travemünde (1977-2008). 

Thank You, Päivi !

Country: Finland (but British artist)
Description: Watching the Flying Scotsman
Photo: Kevin Walsh © 2012 / Karto

Hong Kong trams

This card came into my mailbox as a part of a forum RR. It shows a watercolor painting made by Chinese painter Shen Ping. The main subject are the double-Decker trams that go through the major areas of Hong Kong Island.The fare for an adult only costs 2.30 HKD (about 0.22 Euros) and therefore is one of the cheapest way of transportation here. BUT it can get stuck in traffic and is quite crowded and hot inside. At least this is what Mavis wrote.

About the stamp. The 3.70 HKD (2014) shows Kang Lau Shek (Watchtower Stones) located in the easternmost corner of Tung Ping Chau. Made up primarily of thinly laminated siltstone, they were formed about 55 million years ago. There was an initial sea-arch but gradually constant coastal erosion made it collapse, leaving behind this two sea stack formations.

Thank You, Mavis !

Country: Hong Kong

Description: Street Watercolor

Photo: Shen Ping

San Francisco Cable Car

 

This card was sent in a RR group.

The picture was taken 134 years ago (in 1880) by Carleton Watkins, an American Photographer. It shows a well-known public transport service: The Cable Car which is still in use nowadays. Also, the stretch of California Street shown in the picture hasn't change much and in its vicinity there is the Car Cable Museum (1201 Manson Str.) which worth a visit if you're in the area.

And now about the stamps. All are issued in 2014.

First shows the head of Abraham Lincoln memorial statue housed inside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The second portrays Harvey Milk, first openly gay candidate elected to political office in California. The colors of the gay pride flag appear in a vertical strip in the top left corner.

The third symbolize Chinese Year of The Horse and is a part of Celebrating Lunar New Year series introduced in 2008 by USPS. The drumsticks are painted in red, which is Chinese color for luck and the drums were decorated with peonies, traditional symbols of prosperity.

Thank You, Brenda !

Country: United States

Description: San Francisco Street Cable Car (1880)

Photo: Carleton Watkins (1829-1916)

Location: California Street, San Francisco

Sonic 885

This official card came two days ago from Japan, a country with excellent railway system and trains.

The Sonic 885 is an EMU (electric multiple unit) train made by Hitachi in 2001 and operated in Limited Express mode (tokkyū) by JR Kyushu in the island with the same name in south-western Japan.

The multiple old stamps and the AirMail vintage sticker are awesome, too.

The 20¥ bears no date (printed in 1972) and depicts a bunraku character.

The 15¥, printed in 1971, depicts a tiger and a dragon, usual characters from Japanese Fairy Tales.

The 20¥, printed in 1972 depicts the the early Yokohama Harbor.

Thank You, Ichigo !

Country: Japan

Description: SONIC 885 Intercity operated by Kyushu Railway Company

Photo: Table Talk

Trains come from Germany

 

Today's card meets totally one of my favorite theme: trains.
And when I say totally I mean the stamps as well.

The train operates on the narrow gauge railway Niebüll–Dagebüll in Northern Germany. The picture is taken in at the end of July 2010 in Dagebüll Mole (on the ferry pier) which is the route's terminus point.

But I find it unusual how they combine the train: the Prusian old locomotive (1923) with the much newer wagons.

As I've metioned before, the stamps are in the theme, too.

Issued in february 2012, they celebrate 125 years of narrow gauge railways in the Harz Mountains (Schmalspurbahnen im Harz). The Harz Narrow Gauge Railways (German: Harzer Schmalspurbahnen) or HSB is a network of 1,000 mm gauge railways in the Harz mountains, in central Germany. It connects the principal towns of Wernigerode, Nordhausen and Quedlinburg and several smaller towns in the area with about 140 kilometres of track with 48 stations and stops, much of which is steeply graded and picturesque.

Many Thanks, Melita !

Country:Germany
Description: Dagebüll Mole narrow gauge station on the ferry pier
Photo: Thomas Böttger
Location: here