Queensland Catalog of Numeral Cancellations on Postage Stamps by Dr Jeremy Hodes: Numeral Railway cancellations used on Queensland postage stamps

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Numeral Railway cancellations used on Queensland postage stamps

Numeral railway cancellations used on Queensland postage stamps

Railways began to be constructed in Queensland from the 1860s onwards. In many cases, the post office in a particular town was established at the railway station. By 1893, 113 post offices were situated at railway stations.

From 1867 onwards, separate railway stamps were used for railway purposes (parcel and newspaper freight). These had a variety of manuscript and printed cancels for parcels, or a concentric ring cancellation for newspapers. Due to an increase in freight traffic, it was decided to introduce railway cancellers and in 1902, 10 bar numeral cancellers (type 2b with 4 bars in the middle) were issued to a large number of railway stations. The majority, but not all of them, had numerals 7mm high. As well, at some stage special railway station 12 barred numeral cancellers with 6 bars in the middle were also issued to railways stations for use with railway stamps.

The different types of barred numerals used on Queensland postal stamps. Left to right: Type 2a 9 bars (3 middle bars) - used in post offices only; Type 2b 10 bars (4 middle bars) - used in post offices and some railway station offices; railway type 12 bars (6 middle bars) - used in railway station offices only

Dave Elsmore has additional information on these. His list of numerals assigned to the railway stations is HERE (manuscript list at top and a detailed printed list further down) with the 10 bar (type 2b) numerals assigned to the railway stations listed HERE.

Given the co-location of many railway stations and post offices, it was inevitable that railway cancellers (types 2b (10 bar) and 2c (12 bar)) meant for use on railway stamps only, were occasionally also used on Queensland postage stamps; especially as the postmaster was sometimes a member of the railway station staff and had access to both railway and postal cancellers. This usage has also been noted when the railway office was located with a receiving office, the use of the railway numeral being the only implement on hand to cancel postally used items.

Note that in the 1980s, many of these cancellers were subsequently sold to the public through the Brisbane railway shop and therefore some of the existing postal examples may be suspect.

A railway stamp with a newspaper concentric circle cancellation

Various types of railway station barred numeral cancellers used on Queensland railway stamps

Yarwun railway station barred numeral canceller (numeral 657) with 12 bars used on a Queensland postage stamp

Muckadilla rectangular railway numeral canceller (numeral 99) with 12 bars rated 4R.

My blog only only covers those 10 and 12 bar cancellers that were used on Queensland postage stamps.

These are the 10 bar (type 2b) and 12 bar railway station numeral examples seen on Queensland postage stamps as recorded by Manning, Campbell or seen by myself and listing the number of middle bars:

7 - Wooloowin (10)
8 - Eagle Junction (10)
11 - Nundah (10)
17 - Taringa (10)
20 - Sherwood (10)