Postal Himal QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF THE NEPAL AND TIBET PHILATELIC STUDY CIRCLE NTPSC Homepage (courtesy of Rainer Fuchs) http://fuchs-online.com/ntpsc Beginning of Mobile Postal Service photo by Sidhartha M Tuladhar The information on the side of van is sketched with route of Mobile van no 1. The center of the sketch map read “Operated by Goswara Hulak Office( General Post Office) Mobile Postal Service, Kathmandu Area, route No. 1”. The van operates 10 AM to 5PM. st Number 170 2Quarter 2017 Postal Himal Issue 170 June, 2017 Area One Year Three Years Lifetime USA/Canada $20.00 $50.00 N/A PayPal for USA/Canada $21.20 $53.00 All Others ₤18.00 or €22,00 ₤45.00 or €55.00 N/A PayPal for All Others ₤19.08or €23,32 ₤47.70 or €58,30 Email Only —Everywhere $10.00 or ₤6.00 or €7,50 $25.00 or ₤15.00 or €18,75 N/A PayPal for Email Only $10.60 or ₤6.36 or €7,95 $26.50 or ₤15.90 or €19,88 American Philatelic Society Affiliate #122; Representatives: Europe: Mr. Colin T. Hepper British Philatelic Federation Affiliate #435 see address above Postal Himal is a quarterly publication of the Nepal & Nepal: Mr. Surrender Lal Shrestha, Tibet Philatelic Study Circle. Membership subscriptions G. P. O. Box 72, Kathmandu, Nepal run from January through December of each year. Dues Email: [email protected] should be paid in local currency at the prevailing USA: Mr. Kenneth Goss exchange rate to the Society representative in your area. 2643 Wagner Place, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762, USA Secretary: Mr. Colin T. Hepper, 12 Charlwood Close, Email: [email protected] Peterborough, Cabs, PE2 9BZ, UK Change of Address: Phone: 017330349403 Bruno Le Peut, Email: [email protected] 64 Rue de Kerbleiz, Editor: Dr. Frank E. Vignola, 2238 Greiner St, 29900 Concarneau, France Eugene, Oregon, 97405, USA New email : [email protected] Phone: 1 541 683 2695 Email: [email protected] Honorary Life Members: Colin Hepper, Jit Bahadur Board of Directors: Manandhar President: Mr. Colin T. Hepper Life Members: Richard G. Azizkhan, Mario C. Vice President: Mr. Rainer Fuchs Barbiere, Joachim Bednorz, Johannes Bornmann, Jeremy Secretary: Mr. Colin T. Hepper Brewer, Gerhard Lenser, Leo Martyn, R. Murray, Bruno le Treasurer: Mr. Colin T. Hepper Peut, Peter Planken, Kedar Pradhan, Barbara Praytor, Members at Large: Mr. Christopher Kinch, Surrender Lal Shrestha, Danny Kin Chi Wong, Alfonso G. Mr. Alan Warren Zulueta Jr. Auctioneer: Mr. Leo Martyn Editor: Dr. Frank E. Vignola T C Officer’s Corner Colin Hepper FRPSL 3 Editor’s ramblings Frank Vignola 3 Return to Thibet Edmond Weissberg 4-6 Amlekhganj and the Nepal Railway Colin Hepper FRPSL 7-8 Late Fee Rate Bruno Le Peut 8 Westpex meeting photos 9 Rajbiraj Post Office Colin Hepper FRPSL 10 Beginning of Mobile Postal Service Sidhartha M Tuladhar 11 Express Mail Delivery Service Colin Hepper FRPSL 12-15 Nepal Small Horse and Crown and Crossed Kukirs Postal Cards Frank Vignola 16 2 Postal Himal Issue 170 June, 2017 Officer’s Corner: by Colin Hepper Before applying for this we need some firm WESTPEX has come and gone in what commitments from our members to exhibit. We must is becoming an annual trip for me. It is commit to having a minimum of 37 (16 page) frames always a pleasure for me to meet our with a maximum of 80 frames; this in turn would members from the west coast. Our indicate that we need a minimum of four members meeting was well attended this year willing to participate. It would be a great opportunity with Alan Warren giving a power point to advertise our society. It is four years away and we display on Tibet and Leo with his forgeries. Since the may not be accepted but please let either Ken Goss last issue of Postal Himal we had no volunteers for or myself know if you are willing to participate in this the position as editor and Frank Vignola has agreed event. to continue to publish this for us with the distribution Finally just another reminder to all members that being handled by Ken Goss and myself. Frank needs to build up a backlog of articles to be We are considering applying for participation in able to get the magazine out on time so please try WESTPEX as a featured society in 2021. A featured and get some articles to him. society is a guest society that intends to hold an exhibition as well as meetings at WESTPEX. NTPSC meeting participants at Westpex 2017 NTPSC AUCTION Coming this Fall The NTSC auction has been delay until September or October this year in order to obtain more material. NTSC members can submit items for consignment. Contact Leo Martyn at [email protected] for more information about consignments. Editor’s Ramblings: In September or October we anticipate a society auction coordinated by Leo Martyn, the society auctioneer. This is the second issue of Postal Himal that I will be Contact Leo Martyn at [email protected] for information editing. I appreciate all those who have contributed to about consignments. these issues, and Kenneth Goss for proof reading. And it is these contributors who help make the society a In April, the society held a meeting at Westpex 2017. success. We have several interesting articles for this issue Several photographs of the meeting will be included in this and hopefully this will stimulate other NTPSC members to newsletter. The photo above of the NTPSC members write about interesting items that they find. present at the meeting was forwarded by Bill Janson. Congratulations! At the Melbourne 2017 FIAP international exhibition held in Australia in April, three Nepal exhibits earned awards. Rishi Kumar Tulsyan received a vermeil for “The Postal Stationery of Nepal 1887-1959.” Large silver went to Bhavya Tulsyan for “The Classic Period of Nepal 1779-1930,” and Large silver went to Sweta Shrestha for “Aerogrammes of Nepal.” At the Finlandia 2017 show held in Tampere, Finland in May Bruno Le Peut of France received a vermeil for his “The Sri Pashupati Issues of Nepal.” 3 Postal Himal Issue 170 June, 2017 RETURN TO THIBET By Edmond Weissberg Here on the show is a "returned TO Thibet" cover. belong to an all mingled period 1941 to 1950. I have plated the 2/3 Trangka as "cliché 7", and the Those covers are much more uncommon than the 4 Trangka as "cliché 9", but not the other ones. "returned FROM Thibet" ones, which could be easily obtained (and can be, even nowadays) by just c) Being adjacent and arranged into square, the purposely writing to an imaginary addressee at a stamps were cancelled with only one centrally fanciful address in Thibet (1), and provided a "return placed "Hellrigl [T 42] (single circle) Lhasa address" is mentioned on the back flap of the cancel" (4). They were affixed one against the envelope (2). other, except the two top ones, thus leaving between them a small 2 mm wide vertical space Well, concerning this cover: of the envelope itself, on which appears a very 1: - RECTO: faint trace of the cancel. a) It was sent by P.B. Dhahwa & Sons, Lhasa, to the d) There is also a registry label "Waterfall [BR 9]" (5) well-known collector Aaron Binder in the United with a boxed registry handstamp "Waterfall States, as "registered". (Red ink manuscript [GE]" (5) - or "Hellrigl [B77]" (4), clearly showing endorsement). Quite interestingly and remarkably, "GYANTSE" on the top line, but not a faint trace of the address in New York is: "1250 Franklin Ave." inking showing the word "TIBET" which should have been written underneath on the lower line. b) It is franked on the front side with four thibetan Otherwise, there is the usual manuscript notation stamps of the 1933 issue: 1/2 + 2/3 + 4 + 1 (in blue ink), confirming the number: "31" of the Trangka, i.e. a blatant overfranking (6.16 Trangka registration number, and the date of dispatch from in all), - still not, but nearly, a full set. (Therefore Gyantse, i.e. 15 April 1950 (not easily readable on an obvious hint towards a "philatelic" cover!) At the back - see § 2/ -b) infra). that time, 4 Trangka would have been sufficient for this small cover, (102 mm X 162 mm, which is e) There are also some pencil notations, rather not a U.S. standard size envelope), and does not undecipherable, but possibly: "Removed / No appear to have been overweighted. Besides, it is add", and at bottom: "4/25/50", which is also the made of plain grayish to yellowish-white paper date of the second "New York" violet cancel on (not at all "native" thibetan paper), with neither a the back. (see 2/-c) infra). Also, the address has watermarked nor an embossed trademark. I've been scored out by a single pencil stroke. tried to check the colours of the stamps against a f) A remarkable feature of this cover lies in the two colour chart (Methuen) - (3). They seemingly Continued on Page 5 4 Postal Himal Issue 170 June, 2017 violet single line auxiliary markings: "PARTI stamps were cancelled "Gyantse" (probably (REMOVED.") and: "RETOUR (RETURN TO Hellrigl B48) - (4) , but they are so faintly applied WRITER)" that only "Gyantse" is legible and "15 APR" just Both are accordingly to U.P.U. regulations, in guessable. (6) French and in English. They are rather unusual c) There are two "New York" datestamps: (no "hand" pointing to a return address, - a black oval dated 24 April 1950 "NEW YORK, "removed" instead of "moved", and "writer" N.Y.