Llanberis Lake Railway 1978 Definitives (2v, U/M)

£2.50

Se-tenant pair of definitives issued by the Llanberis Lake Railway (Rheilffordd Llyn Padarn) in North Wales in 1978, featuring the locomotive Elidir.

2 in stock

Add to Wishlist
Add to Wishlist

Description

Se-tenant pair of definitives issued by the Llanberis Lake Railway (Rheilffordd Llyn Padarn) in North Wales in 1978.

Both stamps feature the same image of the locomotive Elidir, but one is captioned and priced in English (15p) and the other in Welsh (15c). The stamps were printed alternately throughout the sheet, so some pairs will have the 15c on the left and the 15p on the right, and some the other way round.

U/M / Unmounted Mint / MNH / Mint Never Hinged.

About the Llanberis Lake Railway

The Llanberis Lake Railway (Rheilffordd Llyn Padarn) is a narrow gauge heritage railway in the Snowdonia National Park, running for 2.5 miles (4km) along the northern shore of Llyn Padarn, or Llanberis Lake. After the 1960s closure of the former Padarn Railway, which linked the Dinorwic slate quarry with the sea, plans were formed to create a narrow gauge railway along part of the route. The railway opened in 1971, with a 2003 extension taking the route as far as Llanberis itself.

The history of modern railway letter stamps goes back to 1957, when the Talyllyn Railway became the first UK railway to produce such issues. These labels were popular as souvenirs for the railway’s visitors, but also performed a postal function, paying for the carriage of mail via the railway’s own letter delivery service. Many other preserved railways followed suit with their own issues, including the Llanberis Lake Railway from 1976, a few years after opening.

As the Railway Philatelic Group explains, however, subsequent changes to the agreement between the Royal Mail, British Rail and independent railways – most recently in 1998 – has seen the number of railways offering a letter service dwindle, and, as of 2023, only the Talyllyn Railway, Ffestiniog Railway and Nene Valley Railway are understood to still be running a railway letter service.

The Llanberis Lake Railway is believed to have issued its final stamps in 2001. For details of all Llanberis Lake Railway issues, see the excellent Philatelic Compendium website.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet.

Be the first to review “Llanberis Lake Railway 1978 Definitives (2v, U/M)”

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.