Trains on US Stamps

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TRAINS ON U. S. STAMPS
and POSTAL STATIONERY
page 10a

Embossed postcard with train image - Limited Express

Flowering Trees Issue

March 19, 1998

Sc. 3193-97 FDCs
Sc. 3193-97 FDCs

Now and then I see a modern First Day Cover depicting a train, but with no railroad connection in the stamp(s), yet I like it so much I just have to own it. The pair above were ones I could not pass by, and they probably reveal more than anything else I have said in these pages about why I collect trains. The maker is David Emke, the medium is water-color. Wow!

32¢ THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY

CELEBRATE THE CENTURY ISSUE - 1900's - February 3, 1998

Sc. 3182 - issued 2/3/98
Sc. 3182c - issued 2/3/98
Sc. 3182 - issued 2/3/98

This was the first sheet in a three-year USPS extavaganza of ten sheets, one per decade of the 20th Century.
For some of them, the public got to vote on the subjects.
The format was awkward, to say the least - try separating any of those stamps from its pane!
But the series yielded five stamps with a train theme, so I'm not complaining.

Sc. 3182c - issued 2/3/98 - Bevil FDC

The train here is in the text and theme of the stamp, rather than the image, a twist I like.
The stamp inspired a fair number of top-notch FDCs with a train image, the Bevil cover above being a prime example.
Below is what Fred Collins did.

Sc. 3182c - issued 2/3/98 - Collins FDC

This time the USPS DID sell a "press sheet" for the issue, though its format is rather dull, just four panes, 2 by 2.
At least it does have some production markings that give it some extra interest.

Sc. 3182 - issued 2/3/98 - press sheet of 4 panes

32¢ PANAMA CANAL

CELEBRATE THE CENTURY ISSUE - 1910's - February 3, 1998

Sc. 3183f - issued 2/3/98
Sc. 3183f - issued 2/3/98
Sc. 3183f - issued 2/3/98

This is more a rail theme stamp than a real train stamp.
On the righthand side of the design are pictured two of the "mules" (small electric locomotives) that pull ships through the Panama Canal locks.
They run on rails, as you can clearly see in the image.
Below is the Fred Collins FDC for this issue.
He did not feature the train theme, but I like the depiction of the Canal from high
above, as I think it gives one a good image of what an incredible engineering feat its construction was.

Sc. 3183f - issued 2/3/98 - Collins FDC

Again, there was a "press sheet" for the issue. Again just four panes, 2 by 2.

Sc. 3183 - issued 2/3/98 - press sheet of 4 panes