hi,
I collect Belgian railway / parcel post stamps, but I do not use (pre)printed album pages. I just put them in a stock book, giving me maximum flexibility as to presentation and layout.
Apart from that, it also leaves the possibility to expand, for instance to include the different types of cancellations.
Kelly collects them. You may be thinking of her posts from several years ago. She lives in Canada.
Of interest. Several years ago I viewed a large map with Belgium railway and parcel post stamps affixed to each railway station shown on the map. This was pretty neat and was possible because you can read most of the station name on each stamp. On the downside, he was trying to sell it without much success.
Maybe this is what you are thinking of?
https://stamporama.com/discboard/disc_main.php?action=20&id=17868#133973
Note the last comment in the thread.
The Minkus Belgium album has the pages in chronological order through out the album.
That's what I like about the Minkus albums, I have Russia and Poland. Except for the really odd stuff, things like airmail, postage due, etc. are in chronological order throughout the album. To me it's a much better way to do things!
Thank you to everyone who responded to this thread.
Late last evening I found (on a different site) the discussion thread which served as the catalyst for my question. Which, in turn, caused me to do some addtl digging.
While a considerable body of research regarding Belgian railway and/or parcel post stamps has been produced across the years, the so-called "specialty" pages remain no more than a concept or discussion point. ("Specialty" defined as something more detailed than pages produced by Scott or Steiner.)
I always wondered why Belgium had so many more railway and parcel post stamps than say France or the Netherlands. I like the round postoffice type cancels.
Hello Phil.
That's an interesting question. And one which I, too, have pondered.
Perhaps Jan-Simon will provide some insight regarding The Netherlands. While I have amassed some France "colis postaux" stamps, the number and variety is not on par with Belgium. (Perhaps this is attributable to my novice status.)
Anyway, this is yet further evidence of why "stamp collecting" has held my interest for several decades.
Came across a few interesting sites.
Railway Philatelic Group (UK based)
onni dot no (Norway railways)
alphabetilately dot org slash toc slash parcels
And unfortunately a dead link to a site credited to Hans Vink
There is a fundamental difference between the railways mail in the Netherlands and that in Belgium. In the Netherlands it was also possible between 1924 and 1979 (with a break during WW2) to send letters by train, as some sort of express mail service. At an extra fee (the railway stamps had to be attached to the letter as proof that this was paid) one could drop off a letter at the luggage office of the railway station and the letter would be taken on the next train to the destination. It was a service that was primarily used by and for newspapers in a time that articles and photos could not be emailed.
Examples of the few Dutch railwaystamps issued between 1946 and 1979 (almost complete!)
Apart from that, it was possible to send packages by the railways. Unlinke in Belgium, where for a long time the railways had the monopoly for transport of parcels heavier than 5 kgs, this was one of the options for the sender. See the difference: letters and packages in the Netherlands, packages in Belgium, a service in the Netherlands vs. no choice in Belgium.
The Dutch railway parcel service started before the express letter service, in 1914 and the stamp issuing history is a bit more complex. At the time there were two competing railway companies, De Staatsspoorwegen and the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg Maatschappij. They merged in 1920, but before that merge there were 4 types of stamps: yellow for the stations of the SS, purple for the stations of the HSM, red for the dependencies of SS (offices where you could drop off packages) and green for the dependencies of HSM.
Apart from that, there have been four periods with three different printers:
1913 to 1923 Joh. Enschedé & Zonen, Haarlem. In 1923: Lindenbaum & Co., Amsterdam. 1924-1934 Enschedé again and from 1934 to 1944 the Nederlandse Speciaaldrukkerijen in Rotterdam. Sets consist of 17 different values from 5 cents to 3 guilders. Each printer made the sets in different perforation gauges... so it may look like there are far less stamps, the amount of work to get a complete collection is as daunting as for Belgium.
What does not help of course, is that Dutch railway stamps are not listed in the major catalogues and Belgian railway parcel stamps are. This makes the Dutch stamps more obscure and less collectable.
Jan-Simon
Jan-Simon.
Thank you. Very informative posting. Appreciate the way you provide a clear comparison/contrast btwn the railway/parcel post practices of the neighboring countries.
As luck would have it, just obtained my first Netherlands railway stamp. The 1946 issue shown in the first position of your posting.
Hello Siem, what do i have here...i thought they were Netherlands railroad stamps ? Sorry they may be hard to make out..light yellow color.
Phil.
Hope you don’t mind my jumping in.
Believe your stamp is Type C, Dutch Railways, from the period 1914 - 1946.
The period after the word “cent” is an identifying (differentiating?) mark.
No i do not mind at all..what i showed is all i have on the Dutch railway system.
I know this is too late but I have hingeless Schaubek album of Belgium railway that I purchased for a couple of bucks on Ebay. It looks like it was made around 1970 and had a few supplements added. I have no idea if anything like it is still made.
Bill
Belgium Railways preprinted color pages for sale on Ebay from Portugal - 1879-1987 54 pages;
https://www.ebay.com/itm/401399937988?hash=item5d754cfbc4:g:4OwAAOSwP8BZsI9Y
They appear to be quite in-depth - scroll down the page to the images and you will see quite a few examples.
Not too bad of a price for the pages, but shipping cost is pretty high.
Greetings.
Does anyone recall a discussion on SOR regarding a specialty album or specialty pages for Belgian railway and parcel post stamps? And of so, outcome?
My recollection is a collector/philatelist in north Florida (Jacksonville area?) had designed and/or produced such pages. However, efforts to contact this person were unsuccessful.
Does any other SOR member have an interest in such stamps?
Thanks in advance.
re: Belgium: railway and parcel post stamps
hi,
I collect Belgian railway / parcel post stamps, but I do not use (pre)printed album pages. I just put them in a stock book, giving me maximum flexibility as to presentation and layout.
Apart from that, it also leaves the possibility to expand, for instance to include the different types of cancellations.
re: Belgium: railway and parcel post stamps
Kelly collects them. You may be thinking of her posts from several years ago. She lives in Canada.
re: Belgium: railway and parcel post stamps
Of interest. Several years ago I viewed a large map with Belgium railway and parcel post stamps affixed to each railway station shown on the map. This was pretty neat and was possible because you can read most of the station name on each stamp. On the downside, he was trying to sell it without much success.
re: Belgium: railway and parcel post stamps
Maybe this is what you are thinking of?
https://stamporama.com/discboard/disc_main.php?action=20&id=17868#133973
Note the last comment in the thread.
re: Belgium: railway and parcel post stamps
The Minkus Belgium album has the pages in chronological order through out the album.
re: Belgium: railway and parcel post stamps
That's what I like about the Minkus albums, I have Russia and Poland. Except for the really odd stuff, things like airmail, postage due, etc. are in chronological order throughout the album. To me it's a much better way to do things!
re: Belgium: railway and parcel post stamps
Thank you to everyone who responded to this thread.
Late last evening I found (on a different site) the discussion thread which served as the catalyst for my question. Which, in turn, caused me to do some addtl digging.
While a considerable body of research regarding Belgian railway and/or parcel post stamps has been produced across the years, the so-called "specialty" pages remain no more than a concept or discussion point. ("Specialty" defined as something more detailed than pages produced by Scott or Steiner.)
re: Belgium: railway and parcel post stamps
I always wondered why Belgium had so many more railway and parcel post stamps than say France or the Netherlands. I like the round postoffice type cancels.
re: Belgium: railway and parcel post stamps
Hello Phil.
That's an interesting question. And one which I, too, have pondered.
Perhaps Jan-Simon will provide some insight regarding The Netherlands. While I have amassed some France "colis postaux" stamps, the number and variety is not on par with Belgium. (Perhaps this is attributable to my novice status.)
Anyway, this is yet further evidence of why "stamp collecting" has held my interest for several decades.
re: Belgium: railway and parcel post stamps
Came across a few interesting sites.
Railway Philatelic Group (UK based)
onni dot no (Norway railways)
alphabetilately dot org slash toc slash parcels
And unfortunately a dead link to a site credited to Hans Vink
re: Belgium: railway and parcel post stamps
There is a fundamental difference between the railways mail in the Netherlands and that in Belgium. In the Netherlands it was also possible between 1924 and 1979 (with a break during WW2) to send letters by train, as some sort of express mail service. At an extra fee (the railway stamps had to be attached to the letter as proof that this was paid) one could drop off a letter at the luggage office of the railway station and the letter would be taken on the next train to the destination. It was a service that was primarily used by and for newspapers in a time that articles and photos could not be emailed.
Examples of the few Dutch railwaystamps issued between 1946 and 1979 (almost complete!)
Apart from that, it was possible to send packages by the railways. Unlinke in Belgium, where for a long time the railways had the monopoly for transport of parcels heavier than 5 kgs, this was one of the options for the sender. See the difference: letters and packages in the Netherlands, packages in Belgium, a service in the Netherlands vs. no choice in Belgium.
The Dutch railway parcel service started before the express letter service, in 1914 and the stamp issuing history is a bit more complex. At the time there were two competing railway companies, De Staatsspoorwegen and the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg Maatschappij. They merged in 1920, but before that merge there were 4 types of stamps: yellow for the stations of the SS, purple for the stations of the HSM, red for the dependencies of SS (offices where you could drop off packages) and green for the dependencies of HSM.
Apart from that, there have been four periods with three different printers:
1913 to 1923 Joh. Enschedé & Zonen, Haarlem. In 1923: Lindenbaum & Co., Amsterdam. 1924-1934 Enschedé again and from 1934 to 1944 the Nederlandse Speciaaldrukkerijen in Rotterdam. Sets consist of 17 different values from 5 cents to 3 guilders. Each printer made the sets in different perforation gauges... so it may look like there are far less stamps, the amount of work to get a complete collection is as daunting as for Belgium.
What does not help of course, is that Dutch railway stamps are not listed in the major catalogues and Belgian railway parcel stamps are. This makes the Dutch stamps more obscure and less collectable.
Jan-Simon
re: Belgium: railway and parcel post stamps
Jan-Simon.
Thank you. Very informative posting. Appreciate the way you provide a clear comparison/contrast btwn the railway/parcel post practices of the neighboring countries.
As luck would have it, just obtained my first Netherlands railway stamp. The 1946 issue shown in the first position of your posting.
re: Belgium: railway and parcel post stamps
Hello Siem, what do i have here...i thought they were Netherlands railroad stamps ? Sorry they may be hard to make out..light yellow color.
re: Belgium: railway and parcel post stamps
Phil.
Hope you don’t mind my jumping in.
Believe your stamp is Type C, Dutch Railways, from the period 1914 - 1946.
The period after the word “cent” is an identifying (differentiating?) mark.
re: Belgium: railway and parcel post stamps
No i do not mind at all..what i showed is all i have on the Dutch railway system.
re: Belgium: railway and parcel post stamps
I know this is too late but I have hingeless Schaubek album of Belgium railway that I purchased for a couple of bucks on Ebay. It looks like it was made around 1970 and had a few supplements added. I have no idea if anything like it is still made.
Bill
re: Belgium: railway and parcel post stamps
Belgium Railways preprinted color pages for sale on Ebay from Portugal - 1879-1987 54 pages;
https://www.ebay.com/itm/401399937988?hash=item5d754cfbc4:g:4OwAAOSwP8BZsI9Y
They appear to be quite in-depth - scroll down the page to the images and you will see quite a few examples.
Not too bad of a price for the pages, but shipping cost is pretty high.