Festiniog Railway Letter Service facts for kids

The Festiniog Railway Letter Service is a special way to send letters using trains! It's an official service in the United Kingdom where you can post letters on certain railways. Sometimes, they even deliver the letters right to the person they're for.

This service runs on the Ffestiniog Railway and the Welsh Highland Railway in North Wales. Other old railways in the UK, like the Talyllyn Railway, also offer similar services. Years ago, British Railways (a big railway company) used to offer this service too, until 1984. They worked with the Post Office to set the rules and prices.

The Post Office Guide used to describe this service. In 1969, it said you could use it on British Rail, the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, the Festiniog Railway (in summer), the Talyllyn Railway (in summer), and Northern Ireland Railways. Now, because the railways are longer and open for more of the year, especially with the Welsh Highland line reopening, the service runs all year round.

How the Railway Letter Service Began

This special letter service started way back in 1891. The Ffestiniog Railway Company (FR Co.) joined an agreement about carrying letters by train. This agreement was made between the G.P.O. (the Post Office back then) and most British railway companies.

The agreement explained how the service should work. It also said that each railway company needed to provide a special label, like a stamp, to put on the letter. Railway letters must have both a regular Post Office First Class stamp AND the special Railway Letter Fee label.

This quick letter service started across the country on February 1, 1891. The Ffestiniog Railway Company signed their part of the agreement on May 28, 1891. A copy of this agreement was found in 1968 by Michael Seymour, the company's historian. Even though the Postmaster General wasn't sure if the old agreement was still valid, they accepted the Ffestiniog Railway's copy. So, the service was brought back on May 28, 1969.

Special Stamps and How They Work

When the service started again, special Ffestiniog Railway Letter Fee labels (stamps) were designed. Michael Seymour, the company's historian, designed these and all the stamps and special cancellation marks until he passed away in 1999. Many of these stamps were printed by T. Stephenson & Sons Ltd.

At first, you could send Ffestiniog Railway Letters from stations like Porthmadog, Dduallt, and Tan-y-bwlch when staff were there. You could also send them from the trains! A special First Day Cover service was also started. For over thirty years, collectors could get special envelopes with stamps from the Post Office, Welsh regions, and the Ffestiniog Railway.

Recently, this service has focused more on Ffestiniog Railway stamps and special events on the railway. This is because Royal Mail (the current Post Office) issues so many stamps now. However, with the Welsh Highland line expanding and other changes in the postal system, new opportunities are appearing. Volunteers still run this service to help the railway company, and they don't make a profit from it.

The History of Railway Letters

The Railway Letter Service allowed a letter to travel from one train to another, and from one railway to another. Finally, someone would pick it up at a station, or it would be posted at a station near the person it was sent to. The main benefit of this service was that it was faster and more reliable than the regular Post Office service.

If someone had an important document that needed to get somewhere quickly, they could look up train times in a book called Bradshaw. They would find the next train that connected to their destination. Then, they could hand in the letter at their local station. They would also tell the person receiving the letter by phone or telegram so they could pick it up when the train arrived. The G.P.O./Royal Mail always insisted that regular Post Office stamps be used for normal postage, in addition to any railway fee. This rule is still in place today.

In the late 1800s, most British railway companies offered this service. Many made their own special railway letter labels, as the agreement required. Over time, most companies, including British Rail, started using parcel labels, often writing the value on them or using rubber stamps.

Until 1974, British Rail set the price for the Railway Letter Fee. This price often changed without warning. For example, the basic fee went up from 1s. 2d. to 1s. 3d. on May 26, 1969. This was just two days before the Ffestiniog Railway brought back its service! Luckily, the Ffestiniog Railway had already printed stamps for 1d, 6d, 1/-, and 1s. 2d. They quickly ordered more 1d stamps and new 1s. 3d stamps.

The smaller, older railways got tired of British Rail constantly raising the prices. British Rail had also stopped using priced stamps or labels a long time ago. So, a new agreement was made between the Post Office, the Association of Minor Railways, British Rail, and Northern Ireland Railways. This new agreement started on June 3, 1974. It allowed the smaller railways to set their own fees, separate from British Rail. British Rail also benefited because they no longer had to accept letters from a smaller railway without an extra fee.

Because of changing business conditions, British Rail completely stopped offering this nationwide service on June 8, 1984. However, the Ffestiniog Railway and other heritage railways continued to offer it. The Royal Mail then asked for a new agreement. So, a separate contract was made between the Royal Mail and each participating heritage railway company on December 18, 1998.

Collecting Railway Stamps

In the world of stamp collecting, these railway stamps are usually called cinderella issues. This means they are like stamps but weren't issued by a national postal service.

You can see examples of old Victorian railway letter fee stamps in the National Philatelic Collection in London. On the first day the Ffestiniog Railway's service was brought back, a railway letter with sheets of the new stamps was sent to H.M. The Queen. Later, a reply was received saying that The Queen was happy to accept the stamps for her own Royal Philatelic Collection.

See also

• Railway stamp