Railway Post Offices (R.p.o.) In Canada

???RD & Wiarton (Ontario). Any ideas?

That's either Stratford & Wiarton (rarity factor 100) or Meaford & Wiarton (rarity factor 150). You would probably need a second copy to figure out the exact spacing of the letters around the circle.

For Americans who know about the legend of Punxsutawny Phil the groundhog weather forecaster, Wiarton is the home of the Canadian equivalent, Wiarton Willie.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiarton_Willie

Ryan

Thanks Ryan. How about the initials TTS and M.C.?

M.C. will stand for Mail Car. In a brief read through Shaw's handbook, I can't find anything for TTS - there's the potential that it actually reads T1S, which could then stand for "Train 1 South". Note that if you take that assumption, then Train 1 would lead you to believe that this is a Stratford & Wiarton RPO cancel, as that is the only choice of the two that is known to have train #1 indicated on the cancellation.

Ryan

Every time I see a Stratford&Wiarton rpo or a CPR Toronto&Owen Sound rpo it evokes memories of watching old episodes of James Harriot or Heartbeat. The old steam locomotives had to chug their way north over the Dundalk Highlands to ultimately crawl off the Niagara Escarpment down onto the narrow lake plain at Wiarton and Owen Sound respectively.

Aspiring train buffs and rpo collectors would probably enjoy using Google Maps to look at the fascinating arrangement for the old train run into Wiarton and Owen Sound from the "wye" at Park Head north of Allenford.

The Stratford&Wiarton rpo may also evoke memories for another large group of old-timers who may peruse SCF. After getting through Grade 12 many high school students headed for what was first called Stratford Normal School, which later became Stratford Teachers College, where they trained to become teachers. For many this train was their means to get home on weekends.

Any idea on this one ? Central Vermont Railway ?

This was a tough one,

Ottawa & Maniwaki (Quebec) (Ottawa & Gatineau Valley Railway)

Cancel reads;

OTT.& MAN - M.C./ -O.&G.V. Ry-

(O-235 in Ludlow Catalog, ON-387 in newer Ross Gray Catalog)

Brilliant work ! I would have never even come close on this one, Thank you. Does it list a scarcity rating ?

The Gray catalog uses letters instead of numbers for scarcity.

This one is listed as "C".

(A&B are the most common, F&G are extremely scarce)

C is in the start of the middle range for scarcity.

Gray uses # of years in operation as a baseline for scarcity. (in this case 11-15 years)

I found a Stratford & Wiarton this week, as shown, with "T.1.S" (presumably Train 1, South), and a clear date of May 29, 1899.

Someone previously said it had a rarity factor of 100 (?) -- what's that mean, and what price range does it represent?

I don't have my catalog handy at the moment, but 100 is from the scale used by Ludlow in his 1980's catalog.

500 was considered scarce, 100 at the low end of the scarcity scale he used.

The updated Catalog by Ross Gray uses the letter model and the rarity factors have changed considerably since Ludlow. Gray also gives rarity factors for different hammers of the same RPO.

To be appealing to an RPO cancel collector, the major factors include:
rarity, quality of strike, what stamp is it on, and is it an early or late date?

Yours is clear, on a well-centred (though common) 2c QV stamp, and not extremely rare. (we're talking probably a couple of dollars, unless there is something special that is not obvious)
If it was an early or late date, that would increase the value.

I used to think "100" was good...

My quote of the rarity factors came from the TPG Shaw handbook. I'm out of the country for another week and don't have the literature at hand, so don't be surprised if I'm off a bit on the following. His rarity factors are multipliers to be used on the catalogue value, and need to be scaled according to completeness (and legibility) of the cancellation. For smaller definitives, obviously you can't fit the entire cancel on a stamp, so you could only get 100% of the rarity factor on a cover (or front, or multiple block).

Ryan

The Canadian Railway Museum (ExpoRail) is presenting:

"A Brief History of the Mailcar"
From April 6 to 28, at 11:30 AM, 1:30 PM & 3:30 PM

I am not sure of what is involved, likely a talk in a preserved railcar.
Information can be obtained at:
www.exporail.org (currently a blank page on the link to the presentation)
Tel. 450-638-1522
It is situated at: 110 Saint-Pierre, Saint-Constant, QC (Montreal's south shore, off Rte 30)
Calling would be important (IMHO) to be sure of an English presentation.

Well, I arrived late to this thread, but I found it interesting and entertaining.

Thanks to all. Many years ago, I stumbled onto the TPO/RPO covers among my Newfoundland collection (its all that I collect). Anyways, I then discovered and bought the Ludlow catalog--and it changed everything.
I highly recommend it: Published in Japan in 1982 and entitled "Catalogue of Canadian Railway Cancellations, by Lewis Ludlow. I'm sure all you smart pillars know this, but just in case.

Lastly, I notice above that JamesW had a question about an Newfie RPO image. (i don't know how to cut and paste the quote)..but you were looking for the information on that cancel. I think that I have your answer: According to Ludlow, it is N-59 cancel, the "N&W Railway TPO / Newf'd". The circle type is 17F and it was used between 1903 and 1917. The Rarity Factor is 185. Note that it cannot be N-60 (the other N&W RPO) because that had the type 4 J cancel (more a split ring cancel).

Hope this helps