Austria - 125th anniversary of the Stainz Railway: On the 28th on May 2017, the Austrian postal service issued this beautiful stamp featuring the Bottle train that runs on the Stainz Railway in Austria. The railway is featured in order to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the track. The railway opened in 1892, and from then on it handled transportation on the approximately 11 kilometer long track. The track was in full use until 1951 after which passenger transportation ended. In 1980, the transportation in general came to an end. However, this wasn't the end of the railway. Already in 1971, a group of railway enthusiasts started running the bottle train on the track, and it has since become a tourist attraction in the area. The train is depicted on the stamp with its four colourful carts attached. In the background, the Stainz Castle is depicted. The stamp is denominated at 1.25, and can be found in our catalogue. Russia - 175th anniversary of the birth of Vasily Vereshchagin: In order to commemorate on of the great artists of Russia, the Russian Postal Service has issued this souvenir sheet featuring the one of his great works. The stamp itself depicts a painting by Vereshchagin which was completed in 1897, and it shows Cape Fiolent near Sevastopol. Though this piece focuses on the beauty of the surroundings, this is not was he was most famed for. Vereshchagin was one of the best war artists in Russia, and many of his best works depict scenes that would play out in relation to the war. The scenes tend to be very graphic, and many of his pieces were never published because of this. However he managed to capture the essence in the war scenes. The souvenir sheet shows the artist next to his work. The stamp is denominated at 95p, and can be found in our catalogue. |