Best of 2012

Another year is going to be end..2012 and 2013 is approaching with new hopes of ray and probably lots of resolutions which we would take and never able to make:) but still we do..like we philatelists have different goals may be which includes filling up missing stamps in our albums or complete some countries or to get a cover from an unknown countries...

This 2012 i also had some resolutions and some philatelic goals in some sense these were satisfied and some are not.But overall it was again a great successful year for my collections ....i have won some good deals in ebay,some wonderful stamps were issued throughout the world..and gone through some wonderful exchanges..
I was thinking of writing this blog from long time..and today i decided these is now or never..It was really a difficult choice of stamps and covers....
Here i will share my acquisitions of my 2012 in the forms of stamps/SS/Covers...
Hope you enjoy this:


1)

The first one i like to share is 1994 India Baroda Museum setenant issue..i was eyeing this for long time but never found at good affordable price..though u see it very rare in ebay.in atleast in perfect condition..so i got  a chance and i rightly grabbed the item..


2)

And another wonderful sheet of Telegraph centenary SS issued by India in 1951..which i bought from the same dealer as the Baroda Museum stamp illustrated before..

3)

This Wonderful cover was sent to me by my good Friend Anita Bildl ...it's my first cover with unusual stamps on it..Over the years Austrian post issued stamps on unusual substances like polymer,with dust from a meteorite,crystal i have few of them in mint but its always pleasure to have them on postally used cover..These stamps were published in honor of Austrian embroidery industry the Green stamp was issued in 2005 and another was issued in 2008...the 2005 issue depicts Edelweiss an well known alpine flower and the 2008 issue depicts Gentian flower..Thanks Anita for this wonderful cover..

4)

Anita's Cover was not only surprise it has  a wonderful strip of 3 stamps of Austrian polar issue i was searching this issue from way back in 2010..but i waited and finally patience paid Thanks Anita again:)


5)

This set comprising the first issues from Australian Antarctic Territory..the stamps were issued in 1957-59 and the 5d  green stamp was issued in 1961..The 2sh shows the map of antarctica and Australian explorers..
5d brown shows Edgeworth David,Mawson and A.F. McKay (1908-09 South Pole Expedition) .8d shows Loading weasel (snow truck). 1sh, Dog team and iceberg 2sh3p  Emperor penguins and map the 5d green shows Sir Douglas Mawson it was issued to commemorate the 50th anniv. of the 1911-14 Australian Antarctic Expedition ..I thanks Richard Martin for sending out me this wonderful stamps...

6)

The Cover from Lesotho came to me from Mr. Mike Shutts thanks for the wonderful cover i am specially thankful that u have put train stamp on my cover..


7)

This very cold miniature sheet came from Argentina from my friend Germán Bicego ..it took nearly 3 months to reach me i almost thought it was lost...Thanks German...


8)

And this is the postcard  of elephant seal really posted came all the way from Falkland Island .Thanks to  Vanessa(Employee Falkland Philatelic Bereaue) who kept my request to post it and write on it...That was really wonderful..I got 4 cards this is the best one i chosen ....

9)

And this postcard was sent to me by Mila Pikova ..Spasiba(Thanks So much)..This is Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow its structure amazes me..just love it..read more about this @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Basil%27s_Cathedral

10)

The slot is still empty i will share the best item which i will receive till end of 2012...

Wish u happy new year 2013 and wish ur all dreams (read philatelic dream )get satisfied this year..

Stamps on Railways Stations

Railways Stations:

While writing this post firstly i wanted to share a 4v Railways stations set from Algeria..issued in 2008
The 4v set shows 1)Gare D' Alger,2)Gare De' Constantine,3)Gare D' Oran,4)Gare D' Skikda
Super thanks to my Algerian friend Ismail for sending these to me..

This is Copenhagen Central station completed its 100 years..and Danish post issued this 4v stamps..
I am also attaching the writeups which was in the presentation folder..

Bern Railways Station Switzerland 1974..

Belarus Post issued this stamps/SS in 2010 ..shows The railway station “Vilenski” in Minsk, beginning of XX century and The railway station in Mogilyov, beginning of XX century.

 These stamps issued by FL post it shows 3 railways stations in liechtenstein..was issued in  1997 it has only 4 railways stations..

This shows Taiping station in way back 1885..on the cover of booklet issued by Post Malaysia  in 2010 to commemorate 125 years of  Taiping- Port Weld railways service which started in 1885..

This below SS was issued by Romania Post to celebrate 100th anniversary of  Oriental Express shows Gara De Nord station in France..

The below two SS shows Kualalumpur and Salak Tinggi Station..

Havana Central Railways Station

2004 Belarus issue showing station in Mosty, beginning of 20th century. and in Vitebsk, 19th century.

Israel post issued this beautiful sheet in 2011 on Valley Railways..The tabs shows Turkish period buildings at the Kfar Yehoshua station, which were renovated and restored and currently serve as a visitor’s center.

India Post issued this sheet on Heritage Railways stations in India in 2009 ..The stamps shows: Howrah,Chennai,Mumbai,Delhi, Stations

..
This one is From my country again  celebrating 100 years of Doon Valley Railways and shows Deradoon railways station

2007 Stamp from France shows Nantes Railways station..

These stamps were issued in 2008 by Turkish Post ...The first stamp shows: Turkey's largest and most magnificent railway station, Haydarpasa, shown on the first stamp, was built in the early 20th century by the German architects Otto Ritter and Helmuth Cuno. Istanbul Sirkeci Terminal (Turkish: Sirkeci Garı), illustrated on the second stamp, is Istanbul's terminus for trains from Edirne and Europe

Mountain Railways In India

Hello my fellow collector friends after a long brian storming session on what topic to write i have chosen this mountain railways in India..
Mountain Railways of India is a UNESECO heritage Site
As you all know India is a country diversity so we have many high ranging mountains in both in northern and southern part of India
Here is my small effort to represent them through my stamps:)) Hope you will like it..

There are six or seven railways lines built in India during early 19th and 20th century during the British period..

The mountain railways of India are as followed:

1)Darjeeling Himalayan Railways(1881)
2)Kalka-Shimla Railways(1898)
3)Kangra Valley Railways(1924)
4)Kashmir Railway (2005)
5) Nilgiri Mountain Railways
6)Matheran Hill Railways

From 1-4 above are on the Himalayan mountains in North India
and rest two are on Western ghats in Southern part of India


1)Darjeeling Himalayan Railways:
It was built in 1881 during British rule in India..It runs from Siliguri to Darjeeling,in West Bengal
It is often called as toy trains are one of the tourist interest there ..The highest elevation of this railways in Ghoom station its about on 2300 meters(7,500 feet) ..
In 1982 India have issued a stamp on this railways..as shown below:

The wonderful FDC is showing a nice mountain range of Himalaya

Bhutan issued a wonderful SS on Darjeeling Himalayan Railways in 1984...

2)Kalka Shimla Railways: Shimla is the capital of Himachal Pradesh..a wonderful hillstation where i always wanted to visit but so far no luck yet:(..It's on 2,205 meter(7,234 Feet)..and it was summer capital of British India..The railway line was constructed by the Delhi–Ambala–Kalka Railway Company commencing in 1898 in the Siwalik Hills ranges..
The line has 103 tunnels and 864 bridges (multi-arched gallery type, like the Roman aqueducts)

India Post issued stamps to commemorate the 100 years of this Kalka-Shimla Railways..in 2003
Here is  a wonderful blk of 4s and the FDC here

3)Kangra Valley Railways: The Kangra Valley Railway lies in the sub-Himalayan region and covers a distance of 163 kilometers (101 mi) between Pathankot and Joginder Nagar, a valley known for its natural beauty and ancient Hindu shrines

India dont have any stamp on this railways so this is the picture from
http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/

4)Kashmir Valley Railways: It was built for Jammu and Kashmir to communicate with rest of India.. The railway starts from Jammu and, when completed, will travel for 345 kilometres (214 mi) to the city of Baramulla on the northwestern edge of the Kashmir Valley
The scheduled date of completion was August 15, 2007. However, several unforeseen complications have pushed back the final completion deadline to 2017 at the earliest so a through service from central India to Kashmir will not be possible till then....

Here is a special cover issued on this railways: Special Cover, Kashmir Train,Carried Cover, Railways, Anantnag to Srinagar T N 7

5)Nilgiri Mountain Railways :It is a single track mountain railways in southern part in India. Coonoor was initialy the last station till june 1989 but it got extended further to Fernhill in september,1908 and to Udagmandalam(Ooty) in October 15th ,1908..The Nilgiri Mountain Railway was inscribed as World Heritage Site by UNESCO in July 2005.Ooty is a wonderful place and one of my finest holiday destinations:) i was there 2 times but we did not have time to ride the railways:( Next time i proise i will surely do and update this blog:)LOL

Here is the wonderful postcard of Nilgiri Railways in Ooty..

Special Cover issued by India post to comemorate the Centenary of Coonoor -Udhagamandalam Railways on the 9th Novermber,2008

6)Matheran Hill Railways : Last but not least the Matheran Hill Railways which is one of the heritage railways in Maharashtra built in between 1901 and 1907..The railway line, a 610mm (2 ft) gauge line, covers a distance of 20 kilometers (12 mi), over large swathes of forest territory connecting Neral to Matheran in the Western Ghats hills near Karjat and Mumbai. The line, which generally used to be closed during the monsoons because of the danger of landslides, has, since the 1980s, been kept operational throughout the year.

India Post issued a set of 4v on mountain railways in 1993  which shows : Matheran Hill Railways,Darjeeling Himalayan Railways,Nilgiri Mountain Railways,Kalka-Shimla Railways

A Special cover issued on Darjeeling Himalayan Railways:  issued for Kurseong Philatelic exhibit in 2005

Spanish Bull fight

Bull fighting is a traditional spectacle in spain..in which one more bulls are baited and then killed in a bullring..A bullring is an arena  where bullfighting is performed. Bullrings are often associated with Spain.It is also played in Portugal,southern France also in some american countries like Mexico,Colombia,Ecuador,Venezuela,Peru .

The picture above shows the bullfighting in Spain in different provinces in 19th century when Government itself promoted it as national symbol .
And here goes the bullfighting in Spain in 2012 where we can see in many area it have been stopped and declared as banned.

It started from prehistoric arena where it was done as a part of bull worship and sacrifice ..
The killing of sacred bull was essential central iconic act of Mithras .The oldest representation of what seems to be a man facing a bull is on the celtiberian tombstone from Clunia and the cave painting "El toro de hachos", both found in Spain.

The above picture shows the bull leaping Frescos

Same was shown in 1937 stamp from Greece shown below

Spanish-style bullfighting is called corrida de toros (literally "running of bulls")
In the traditional way 3 matadores  each fights with 2 bulls which are of weight not less than 460kg and ages between 4 to 6 . Each matador has six assistants—two picadores ("lancers on horseback") mounted on horseback, three banderilleros – who along with the matadors are collectively known as toreros ("bullfighters") – and a mozo de espadas ("sword page"). Collectively they comprise a cuadrilla ("entourage").

Here is  a full set of spanish bull fight 16v set issued in 1960 on the Feb 29

 Designs:
15c Lidian Bull
20c, Rounding up bulls.
25c, Running with the bulls,
30c, Bull entering arena
50c bull fighting with cape
70c bullfighting with bandarillas
80c,1p,1.4p,1.5p fighting with muleta in various poses
1.8c mounted bullfighters placing bandarillas
5p 19th century bullfighter,bullring

Sources and picture courtesy: wiki
More info can be found @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullfighting

Puffins:))

These are for those who are bored seeing railways stamps only..and for all bird and Puffin lovers...
I personally like them they are so cute............

This was a Nordia issue in 2009 Thanks Mr. Guðni Friðrik Gunnarsson for this and the FDC below..

And FDC  was issued in Jersey in 1980 on sea birds its a 8v set..

And this WWF set was issued by IOM post in 1989..its a 4v set..here is the FDC with Puffin cancel..i was looking for this for long time and got it finally.some one told true..Collection needs patience..

And Many thanks To Mr.Richard Martin from UK for the below sheetlet it came to me in perfect condition..

And here is the official Maxi card for this issue(Uploading only the Puffin issue)

Above is the FDC from Faroe island issued in 1978..That was a 3v set of seabirds...
And here goes the 3v set:

From left to right birds are :  Northern Gannet,Atlantic Puffin ,Common Murre

This beautiful MS is  from Hungary  issued on Protect polar regions topic..

My recent acquisition from Gibraltar 1988 Atlantic Puffin..its nice to see sheet value on the edge:)

Its a 4v set shown below:

They are:

4p  European Bee-eater
22p Atlantic Puffin
32p European Honey Buzzard
44p Blue rock Thrush Today i got these two TN postcards from my Facebook Friend Aditi thanks So much:)