FR RLS History
The service originated in 1891 when the FR Co. was party to an agreement on the carriage of Railway Letters made between the G.P.O. and most of the British Railway Companies (operating through the Railway Clearing House). The agreement specifies firstly the conditions under which the service is permitted to operate and secondly the provision of a label (supplied by each participating railway company) to be affixed to the face of the letter. Railway Letters must bear the full G.P.O. Royal Mail First Class Letter Postage as well as the Railway Letter Fee.
The agreement, permitting the carriage of letters more quickly than by the normal postal service, became effective nationally on 1 February 1891 and the FR Co. signed the agreement on 28 May 1891. The FR Co. copy survived and was located in 1968 by the Company Archivist, Michael Seymour. The Postmaster General apparently could not confirm the continuing validity of the 1891 agreement, but accepted the copy the FR had, between the FR Co. and the G.P.O., was still valid, and the service was reinstated on 28 May 1969.
FR Railway Letter Fee labels (stamps), for the reinstatement of the service, were designed by volunteer Michael Seymour, the FR Co. Archivist (as were all subsequent stamps and pictorial cancellations until his death in February 1999). The stamps, and many later issues, were printed by T. Stephenson & Sons Ltd. Festiniog Railway Letters were initially accepted at the following stations when manned – Porthmadog, Dduallt, and Tan-y-bwlch, and also on the trains. A First Day Cover service was introduced and covers were for over thirty years serviced for all G.P.O. Commemorative and Welsh Regional issues as well as for FR issues and special events on the railway. Recently this level of business has been curtailed, as the numbers issued by Royal Mail has increased, and the company has concentrated more on FR stamps and special FR events. This has changed with the expansion on the Welsh Highland line, and other opportunities changes in the postal system brings. It is still operated as a volunteer non profit operation, for the benefit of the company.
Read more about this topic: Festiniog Railway Letter Service
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