tps.org.au

Hello does anyone know of any other Railway Station Franking Stamp marks. I just purchased a South Esk Post card with Tasmanian Main Lime Railway No 1 franking mark T.ML.RY. No1. The stamp is interesting as the price on the stamp has been changed to 1 1/2d and the person I brought it from says the postage date is 1906. The No1 may be the No 1 station on the TMLRY Line that being the Hobart Station. I am wondering why the TGR may have kept using the TMLRY franking mark stamp for so long. The TMLRY was brought out by the Tasmanian Goverment in 1890 I would assume the Franking Stamp should have been soon replaced with a newTGR Hobart Station franking stamp. TIA

Dave, these CDS were used on the Travelling Post Office on the main line between Hobart and Launceston, not at a specific station. TML 1, 2 and 3 were allocated to a specific mail van. These CDS were introduced 1886 and were engraved TML Railway as that was the name of the company operating the line at that time. It was transfererd to the Tasmanian Government Railways in 1890, but the CDS's continued in use until Jan-March 1912, when replaced by three new CDS, TPO NO 1, 2 and 3.It was by no means unusual that a CDS continued many years after the name change in Tasmania, there are many examples of this. John