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The Festiniog Railway Letter Service is an officially authorised service within the United Kingdom railway system for posting and transmission of letters, and under certain circumstances also delivering the letters directly to intended recipients. The service operates on the Ffestiniog Railway and the Welsh Highland Railway in North Wales and similar services are operated on the Talyllyn Railway and other heritage railways in the UK. The service was also offered until 1984 by British Railways as successors to the many constituent railway companies that had in 1891 signed an agreement with the G.P.O. and it was BR that regulated the terms and the charges in conjunction with the post office. The service was fully described in the Post Office Guide and the July 1969 edition (August 1969 2nd Supplement) reported that the service was available at stations on British Rail; Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway; Festiniog Railway (summer only); Talyllyn Railway (summer only) and Northern Ireland Railways.〔David Potter: Catalogue of Great Britain Railway Letter Stamps 1957-1970, published by the Railway Philatelic Group (November 1969), page 2〕 Now. with the railways expansion, i.e. operating a longer line, a longer season, and with the reopening of the Welsh Highland line, the service now operates all year round. == 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〔Neil Oakley (1999): The Great Britain & Ireland Railway Letter Stamps 1957-1998 page 4〕 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.〔Festiniog Railway Magazine (FR Society), No.45, Page 9〕 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.〔The Festiniog Railway Letter Service Vol 2. publisher = Festiniog Railway Company, 2010〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Festiniog Railway Letter Service」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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