Sunday, December 29, 2019

The calligraphy train

The topic for today's Sunday Stamps is free choice.

I have selected this train stamp sent by Eva in Spain.



I had never heard of this amazing rail connection before.

From the Correos website:

It is a joint issue with China, and celebrates a new 'Silk Road' or trade route between Madrid and Yiwu. The cargo train has run the 13,000 kilometres between the two cities since 18 November 2014.

Twice a week, the so-called Silk Train begins its long and arduous journey to China. It departs from Madrid and runs exactly 13,052 kilometres, passing through France, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan. When it reaches the Chinese city and trading hub of Yiwu, it unloads its merchandise and starts the journey back to Madrid.
During its journey, the train has to adapt up to three times to the different track gauges in the different countries it passes through. It is worth noting that the Silk Train is a much more environmentally friendly option than the same route by road, saving up to 70 tonnes of carbon emissions.
Today, this intercontinental crossing takes 16 days, something inconceivable in past centuries, when trade routes were mostly maritime.
This train does not accept passengers. It carries only cargo, products imported from China that we use in our daily lives, and Spanish products which are now in high demand all over the world, such as olive oil, ham and other Iberian pork products, Spanish wine, etc.
The stamp depicts the Silk Train, with some of the stamps showing the outward journey, and others the return.
The Premium Sheet depicts a map with the train’s route over train tracks.

The stamp on the envelope features the train outward bound from Madrid, although the envelope went in a westerly direction by air, with very nice calligraphy.
And the writing paper also suggests a journey, although perhaps one on foot or by car, as I don't see any rails on the map :)



12 comments:

  1. Courrier très intéressant ! Je vois qu'Eva a posté sa lettre le 17,j'ai posté les miennes le 19 ,espérons qu'elles arrivent la semaine prochaine :)

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    1. For some reason mail from Eva has been taking a normal amount of time this season. Unlike mail from the UK, which has been very slow. Other countries I cannot say, and yes, it should arrive next week.

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  2. I had planned to send you the other stamp as well :)
    The writing paper comes from a notebook made of old Portuguese maps.

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    1. That would be nice to have the companion. The paper is very nice.

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  3. The trains look different for the outbound and inbound?
    I've always wanted to travel the Orient Express, but was born a few decades too late :(

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    1. They do - interesting to have different looking engines that can adjust to different track gauges.

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    2. De mémoire,le Venice Simplon Orient Express existe encore ,il appartiendrait à la SNCF et certaines de ses voitures seraient seraient classées au titre de monuments historiques :)

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    3. That would be an amazing trip to take.

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    4. Cela doit être très agréable mais c'est un train de luxe donc le voyage est très très cher :(

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  4. I knew the New Silk Road rail journey went to Germany but not that it continues on to Spain. What an amazing trip.

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    Replies
    1. I agree, fascinating logistically and politically.

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  5. Fascinating train and a route I can only dream about. I worked with British Rail back in the 1990s so saw a lot of UK routes but none as evocative as this.

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