AUSTRALIA RAILWAY STAMPS

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I'll show some of the railway stamps of Australia that I have seen, it is by no means complete. Does anybody have more information about these stamps? Then please contact me!

New South Wales

(Government Railways, Parcels stamp, "Town Hall", 5 c red)

A city name seems to be printed in the lower part of the stamp. I have seen the values: 1 p blue, 3 p violet, 4 p green, 5 p blue, 6 p red, 9 p lilac, 1 Sh brown, 2 Sh red, 3 Sh green, 4 Sh black, 5 Sh yellow and 10 Sh grey.
Also 5 c red, 20 c red, 50 c orange, 70 c violet, 1 $ green, 2 $ lilac and 5 $ brown.
I have also seen the above stamps with 'STATE GOVERNMENT' in the lower part and 'O S' overprint (as such I have seen: 1 p blue, 3 p violet, 4 p green, 6 p red and 1 Sh brown). Other similar stamps with 'STATE GOVT.' instead of the city name and overprinted 'O S' in the values 3 p violet, 1 c blue, 2 c violet, 8 c violet, 10 c brown, 20 c red, 40 c black, 50 c orange, 1 $ green also exist. Other values might exist.

1891 Inscription 'GOVERNMENT RAILWAYS':

Government Railways, Parcels stamp, 3 p blue
Reduced sizes

I have seen a 1 p blue in the same design.

Furhermore I have seen the 1 p and 6 p with 'OS' (On Service) overprint:

With 'OS' overprint

Queensland

1872 Queen Victoria, inscription 'Southern & Western RAILWAY QUEENSLAND PARCEL STAMP'

1902 Inscription 'QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT RAILWAYS', with image of train in the center

(10 Sh green, extremely rare stamp and 1/2 p blue)

Inscription 'QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT RAILWAYS NEWSPAPERS AND PARCELS':

1 p blue and 3 p lilac
(Queensland Government Railways, Newspapers and Parcels)

I've seen the values: 1 p blue, 3 p violet, 6 p green and 1 Sh red (all slightly different designs).

Queensland Government Railways Newspapers and Parcels

(reduced sizes)

  1 p red
  3 p brown
  6 p green
  1 Sh lilac
(Other values might exist)

1915(?) Inscription 'QUEENSLAND RAILWAYS', train in top of design

(Reduced sizes)

  3 p lilac and red
  6 p green and red
  1 Sh red an blue
(other values might exist)

1927 As previous issue, but with train removed

Other values probably exist. I have seen the values (all with a townname in red at the bottom): 1 c blue, 2 c lilac, 3 c brown, 5 c green, 6 c orange, 7 c lilac, 10 c red, 20 c blue, 20 c green and red, 25 c grey, 25 c orange and blue, 50 c brown, 50 c brown and green, 1$ black, 2 $ lilac The above 10 Sh grey and red .

Queensland Beaudesert Tramway 1 p green and 4 p red

South Australia

The first railway stamp in South Australia were issued in 1885.

1885 South Australian Railway Parcels Stamp

1 p green, 6 p blue
(Reduced sizes)

I have seen the values: 1/2 p green (smaller size), 1 p green, 2 p orange, 3 p black, 4 p violet, 6 p blue, 9 p lilac, 1 Sh brown and 2 Sh red.

Inscription 'S.A. RAILWAYS. PARCELS STAMP' and value

In the above design I have seen: 1 p, 2 p, 3 p, 4 p, 5 p, 6 p, 7 p, 8 p, 11 p, 1 Sh and 2 Sh (all in the colour red).

I have also seen some stamp similar to the above ones, with inscription 'S.A.RAILWAYS PARCEL' with the value in cents. I have seen the following values: 1 c, 2 c, 4 c, 5 c, 7 c, 8 c, 20 c, 30 c, 40 c, 50 c, 60 c and $1.

TASMANIA

1935(or 1950?) Parcels Stamp Tasmanian Government Railways (void panel issue)

10 Sh orange

I've also seen a 1 p black, 3 p blue, 4 p green, 6 p light brown, 8 p brown, 9 p red, 1 Sh blue, 1/3 Sh lilac, 1/6 Sh green, 1/9 Sh violet, 2 Sh brown, 4 Sh light blue, 10 Sh brown, and 1 Pound red in the above design.
Also the surcharged values '3' on 4 p green, '5' on 9 p brown, '6/-' on 1/9 Sh violet and '8/-' on 1/3 Sh lilac.

Western Australia

Western Australian Govt Rlys Forward

3 p blue
(Value in circle, image of a train below)

This stamp was issued somewhere around 1905; I have seen the following values 1 p orange, 3 p blue, 6 p blue, 9 p green, 1 Sh 3 p brown, 2 Sh 6 p lilac and 2 Sh 6 p violet.

Victoria

1876 Inscription 'VICTORIA ECHUCA' and image of a train

1878-1882 Inscription 'VICTORIAN RAILWAYS'

Stamp issued in 1882

I've seen similar stamps issued in 1879.

1887 Inscription 'Victorian Railways':

(I've also a 2 p blue in the same design)

1917(?) Inscription 'VICTORIAN RAILWAYS PARCELS STAMP':

Besides the 3 p green shown above, I have also seen the following values: 1 p violet, 2 p green, 6 p red, 7 p brown, 8 p red on yellow, 9 p red, 10 p green, 11 p red on yellow, 3 Sh lilac and 5 Sh blue. I've also seen a red '10d' overprint on a 10 p green stamp. It seems that the townnames, such as 'DANDENONG', 'MELBOURNE' or 'SOUTH BRUNSWICK' are printed in the lower part of the stamp in black.

Inscription 'VICTORIAN RAILWAYS PARCELS STAMP'

In this design I have seen the following values: 1/2 p black on violet, 1 p black on grey, 2 p blue, 3 p black on blue, 3 p red on blue, 5 p red, 6 p black on lilac, 8 p black on red, 9 p black on lilac, 10 p black on grey, 1 Sh black on yellow, 1 Sh red on yellow and 2 Sh black.

Silverton Tramways

(1 1/2 p green)

The Silverton Tramways were established in 1886. They seem to have issued stamps upto 1966(?). I don't have any other information concerning this stamp.
I have also seen similar stamps with 'CO LTD' instead of 'LIMITED' in the lower part of the stamp; in the values 1 p red, 6 p blue and 1 c red.

South Maitland Railways (New South Wales)

(1 p black on lilac, issued 1918)

This company also issued stamps in 1920 with 'Pty' printed before the word 'LIMITED' (see next picture). I have seen the values 1 p black on yellow, 4 p black on violet and 6 p black on red.

Literature

There are two catalogs concerning the railway stamps of Australia written by Craig & Ingles; one for Tasmania and the other for the balance of the States. An even better catalog is the one by Dave Elsmore for Queensland (information obtained thanks to Bill Weinberger). I haven't seen these books myself.