Italian Railway Stamps

<body background="img/back3.jpg"> <center><h1><font FACE="Century Gothic" color="#000080">Trains and Railway History</font></h1></center> <FONT FACE="Garamond" SIZE="4"> <p>Italian Post stamps emissions dedicated to trains are rather scarce and etherogeneous (as all the other emissions are). The nicest or most peculiar ones follow here. <p><img SRC="train/tit01b.jpg" align="left" hspace="4" border="3" width="113" height="95">The first issue is the one dedicated to the "Centenary of Italian Railway" in 1939. It shows one of the first locomotives that was operative on the Napoli-Portici line: the <a href="http://www.microsys.it/pietrarsa/foto9.htm"><strong>"Bayard"</strong></a> (2-2-2), besides it is one of the newest (at that time) electric train <strong>ETR200</strong> ("Littorina"), joining history to technological progress. It should be remarked that the Florence lomotives factory rebuilt the Bayard in that year, and we can still see it at the <a href="http://www.microsys.it/pietrarsa/welcome.htm">Museum of Pietrarsa</a>. <p><img SRC="train/tit04.jpg" align="right" hspace="4" border="3" width="144" height="87">This stamp was issued in 1956 for the <strong>"50<sup>th</sup> anniversary of Simplon Tunnel"</strong> the longest tunnel in the world: almost 20Km. It has been criticized by the philatelists because the locomotive comes out from the right tunnel instead from the left one (that moreover has been the first one to be used), and because it's a steam loco while the tunnel line had been an electic one since the beginning, due to its length. You can travel over the <a href="http://www.domodossola.alpcom.it/PianetaOssola/associazioni/circolo/Pag1.htm">Simplon line</a> again in a historical journey.</p> <p><img SRC="train/tit11.jpg" align="left" hspace="4" border="3" width="143" height="107">The modern means of communication are again the subject in the 1988 Europe CEPT emission, dedicated to "Means of transport and communication", in this case with the new <strong>"Pendolino" <a href="http://www.fs-on-line.com/eng/trenavi/etr450.htm">ETR450</a></strong>, that made his debut on the Italian Railways the same year. More about <a href="http://www.railway-technology.com/equipment/passenger/fiat/">Pendolino tilting technology.</a></p> <p><img SRC="train/tit12.jpg" align="right" hspace="4" border="3" width="285" height="110"> 150 years after the first trip on the Napoli-Portici line, this event is commemorated with a double stamp reproducing a detail of a S.Fergola's painting. Note that the locomotive depicted seems the "Bayard", but the first one to begin its duty was actually the <strong>"Vesuviana"</strong>, assembled in Napoli with parts coming from England modeled on the Stephenson's "Rocket".</p> </FONT> <P ALIGN="center"><B><FONT COLOR="Blue" FACE="Century Gothic" SIZE="1"><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top">Home</A> | <A HREF="train/stamp/eng/telst.htm">List</A> | <A HREF="train/stamp/eng/tegal.htm">Gallery</A> | <A HREF="telnk.htm">Links</A> | <a href="mailto:pmarcello@tin.it">Mail-me</a></FONT></B></P> <img src="http://visit.webhosting.yahoo.com/visit.gif?us1041097266" border=0 width=1 height=1></noscript> <IMG SRC="http://geo.yahoo.com/serv?s=76001074&t=1041097266" ALT=1 WIDTH=1 HEIGHT=1> </body>