CHILE AMBULANCE #118
The Chanaral – Llanta – Potrerillos line in Chile is one of the most stunning railways in the world. It connects Potrerillos, a now abandoned town and mine in the remote Andes located 2850 meters above sea level, with the filtration plant and workshops in Llanta and Diego de Almagro, where the line connects to the Longitudinal Norte, and continues to Chañaral and the harbor at Barquito. The line was built starting 1916 by the Andes Copper Mining Company to connect the Potrerillos copper mine and smelter with Pueblo Hundido (now called Diego de Almagro), where it connected to the state railway network, which continued to Chañaral.
I won't be able to post tomorrow, so I will get my post for that day out there now. This is an ongoing project "Merry Chase" cover that requires a little more research before I can say I've got it all figured. Essentially, this was supposed to be an item sent from the US via Prussian Closed Mail to Switzerland, but it somehow found its way in Italy for a while - after going through Switzerland apparently.
It's going to be a fun one!
Here's an internal letter (mailed within France for a destination in France) that properly pays the 40 centimes required to get the letter from there to there. The "O" in a circle was applied because this letter was placed in a rural mail drop box for the carrier to pick up and take to the nearest post office. Each such box hand a handstamp that stayed in the box. The carrier would take it out and mark the letters they had taken from the box. In this case, the "O" in circle was the image applied by the handstamp in this particular box. It would allow the French postal service to track use of these boxes.
Rob - I think your cover that was supposed to go to Geneva went via Italy because a clerk misread the city name as Genoa. The date stamps show transiting Alessandria, Novi, Genoa (illegible), Turin, Geneva. If a guy put it in a the Italy bag in Germany, it wouldn't have been seen while transiting Switzerland the first time. That's my guess.
26 January 1875
Pre-UPU printed matter to Calw, Wurttemberg. PD indicates full payment.
For those who have interest, this week's Postal History Sunday is available. You can view the entire history of PHS by going here, the entries are in most recent first order.
And here is the first item featured in the most recent Postal History Sunday, an 1863 envelope mailed from the US to the island of Guernsey.
Again, reached weekend and missed daily posts.
27 January 1873
First issue domestic Swiss postal card uprated for international use to Baden. Switzerland had an agreement with Germany States to exchange postal cards, but not France or Italy. This card to Lahr, Baden from Maienfeld.
28 January 1915
Detail of cover showing First Day cancel of 1 on 2 centimes stamp, and 13 on 12 which official first day was the next day the 29th. Mailed in Arbon within Arbon.
29 January 1886
1/2d English postal card uprated with 1/2d stamp for international use to Neuchatel, Switzerland. Originating in Edinburgh, Scotland, it transited France, and was transferred to Switzerland via the Pontarlier-Neuchatel railway.
Love the researchable aspects of your posts.. here are some facts on the S/S Arabia..
Roger, was that the correct rate on the FDC? 32 centimes seems like an odd rate, but I'm not up on the correct rates for the period.
Today's trifecta are the following:
30 January 1901 - Local letter from Chur (razor cancel) to Churwalden.
31 January 1901 - Lausanne to St Imier postal card used to collect Fr12.35. Local postage 5 centimes plus 10 centimes per 10 Fr to collect, thus 20 centimes fee. Uncollected after two tries (see bottom of card showing two attempts by mailman)
1 February 1901 - Business postcard fro Bienne to Geneve with Geneve rue du Stand razor cancel used as a receiver. 5 centimes domestic postcard rate.
