Help With Australian Cds

Recently saw this postmark on the back of a cover arriving at Sydney NSW from Papua New Guinea.

Can someone please help me with this as to where this CDS was applied.

It appears to be T.P.O.1.West but could be TPQ1 West. Above N.S.W there is the figure 1, and dated 1st Aug 34. The same cover also shows a Sydney,N.S.W 1st Aug 34 CDS .

Any help would be greatly appreciated.



*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***

Could you offer us a full scan of the cover, please, front and back.

Philas House (NSW)
has this Catalogue, not aware if they offer "tear sheets"

Europe
Postmarks of the travelling post offices of New South Wales
Dovey, J.Whitsed
The Royal Philatelic Society, London

It is the TPO West line, I am wondering if DN = Down
I am not conversant with these Pmks

T.P.O.1 West Down. TPO = Travelling Post Office.

The DN at the beginning of the date line is the indicator here. The postmark is known from September 1931 to February 1935.

TPO West 1 ran from Sydney to Wallerawang.

Hope this info helps!

Thanks from me Bobby !

So Down, suggests mails are being sorted, heading to Sydney

Other way around Rod.

Up to Sydney, down from Sydney.

Oh! Hmmm
always has me back to front.
Thanks Bobby.

Travelling Post Office.

Here's one that's been floating about in my "to do" bin for some time.

Up? Down? Help, please.

TPO 2 North. Is that the Tenterfield line?

If so, does one travel up to Sydney from Tenterfield, or down?

Hi all, after reading all the very helpful replies I now understand this cover much better, but not totally.

The cover arrived in Sydney, and sent on to it's final destination of Ballimari, which is some 170 km west of Wallerewang. What I cannot follow is why it had to
stop in Wallerewang, if it did, hence the T.P.O.1 CDS? I'm assuming that's where the CDS was applied.. Were these CDS like a relief postmark for that PO.

I note Black Swan has one but going North.

Be aware that up and down and even north/south, etc. can be arbitrary in railroad-speak which is assumed here, likely even if there was a bus covering the route. It's just a way of defining movement on railroads and it's probably only clearly specified in postal schedules.

Note that at intermediate points of handling like Sydney, a transit mark is struck. That is, the mailbag was opened and further general sorting was done. So, mail was sorted out in Sydney for points on the TPO route (among other routes or regions) and then more finely sorted by town or railroad station en route. In your case, that further sorted mail got the TPO marking as a transit mark.

I have it similar, however, after the Sydney sort, the Wallerewang mail bag,
was sorted on the train for all stops / transfers on route, and the TPO cancel was struck on the train.

Interesting to wonder how the mail went from Wallerewang to Billimari.
327 Km in one day leaving Sydney at 11am

(TPO = Travelling Post Office)

Today, my mail from Perth to home (225Km) takes 5-8 days

A quote from 'Railway West Chronicles' by Denis Chamberlain:

"When a train runs towards Sydney it is given an even number and referred to as an "up" train. If a train departs Sydney for any short distance or country destination it is given an odd number and referred to as a "down" train. Thus we have an "up" and "down" Railway."

Now, this of course may not apply to how other nations label such matters.


Starpez1's cover will have been conveyed by rail from Sydney to Cowra and the TPO cancel applied in transit. It probably would have been carried from Cowra to Billimari by rail. I cannot find any mail conveyance tender information for Billimari at Trove, strongly indicating rail was the conveyance.


Black Swan's cover has something after the 60 in the datestamp but I cannot read it. I would suggest it would say UP or DN.

Tenterfield is on the North TPO line. Does the cover have any other postal markings on the reverse?

An excellent site on NSW railways can be found here:

https://nswrail.net

Nice work Bobby. Thanks.

Just confused over 1 thing



Later you quote Sydney to Cowra

Can you explain please, there appears a vast distance between the two

Thanks Rod.

The TPO only covers some of the railway lines, but the railway was extensively used for the conveyance of mail, even if it wasn't part of the TPO.

For Starpez1's cover, it would've been carried by rail to Blayney (TPO West 1 Sydney to Wallerawang, then TPO West 2 Wallerawang to Blayney), thence by rail to Cowra (not part of the TPO) and again by rail from Cowra to Billimari (also not part of the TPO).

To clarify, the TPO West was divided into 3 sections in 1881. The first section was Sydney to Wallerawang, the second from Wallerawang to Orange and the third from Orange to Dubbo.

From 1917 there were only two sections, Sydney to Orange and Orange to Dubbo. In 1970 the whole line reverted to just one section, Sydney to Dubbo.

Fabulous. Thanks Bobby.
This was a nice journey, learnt a lot.

Remain circumspect about any rail to Billimari,
it was a tiny destination, albeit a grain centre around that time.
Also wonder about a scarcity rating for Billimari Pmk.

Bobby De La Rue says:

Tenterfield is on the North TPO line. Does the cover have any other postal markings on the reverse?

No back stamps regrettably.

I also have tried to read whatever it is that comes after the date - with no success. I've blown it up. I've magnified it. I've retroed it. All to no avail.

Thanks Bobby for your efforts. Appreciated.

I take it that the "3" below the date means it was a "down" train?

Black Swan, the 3 is the device number.

Rod, please see my link above.

This one will take you to the Billimari page:

https://nswrail.net/locations/show....SW:eugowra:0

I can't imagine the Billimari datestamp being too common.