ISSN 0261-2798 - TRANSPORT TICKET

ISSN 0261-2798

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TTS OCCASIONAL P APEB No 18

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ISSN 0261-2798

@Copyright 1991 GH.I.Fairchild.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, recorded or

transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior

permission of the author and the publisher.

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Upper left: A reminder of dark days in London -an LPTB edmondson authorisinguse of an UndergrounD station for shelter during air raids.

Upper right: The North Eastern Railway of India commemorates spiritual leader

and reformer Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Ghandi, 1869-1948.

Lower left: A Warrington Corporation Tramways 1td ticket evocative of the

style of the 1920s.

Lower right: The back of a Bombay, Baroda and Central India ticket helpfully

explains the Poonam for the initiated.

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FOR INFORMATION SEE OVER

A wideranging look at the matter to be

found on the back of tickets.

It is unfortunate that collectors in general can rarely devote sufficient time to

studying the information to be found on the backs of tickets. It is true that the

essential details of the journey are generally printed on the front, and the railway

ticket designer invariably pays more attention to the layout of the front, which in

aesthetic terms tends to become the more attractive.

Which is recto when a ticket is fully printed both sides, with one side being in

a principal language and the other in a different, seemingly secondary, language?

Textual matter frequently consigned to the back of card tickets includes the

conditions of issue, the date and advertisements. Collectors of British tickets will

recall that during the 1930s a couple of home railways sold tickets with advert-

isements inside a pocket formed in the thickness of the card. The holder of such

a card, once seated on station bench or in the train could pullout the insert and

find himself advised to take a particular soda water with his whisky, to smoke aparticular brand of cigarette or even to restore his health by purchasing a cycle -

on easy terms, of course!

This innovation had been in use in Italy

and Austria around the turn of the century,

with an exceedingly thin sheet of newsprintfolded and inserted into the thickness of an

otherwise conventional edmondson card.

..-') Illustrating this are tickets from the7 Mediterranean Railway 1895 [1], and the

/ Royal 6 Imperial State Railways of Austria

1896 [2]. In each case part of the insert is

shown protruding; that of Italy from the long

edge of the card, and that of Austria from

the short edge. Another country to use the

method, though now resembling the British

thin card insert, was New Zealand; fig.3

advertises the "Competent Optical Service".

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Reverse side content of tickets may be sub-divided to reflect the interests of the

collector. Blank backs are not credited with much importance, but even they

sometimes deserve special attention if drystamped, endorsed or inexplicably

marked. Some backs, officially blank, are known with extensive diarist reports,presumably to be ascribed to the travelling holder. Some will impart a morsel of

information by virtue of their specialised colouring and surface composition. In

special cases one might deduce that the back has missed its printing process and

therefore falsely displays a blank area. We all know of tickets which have been

back-printed and then fed to the front-print operation upside-down, giving a

double, and usually unintelligible result on one side, again falsely presenting ablank back. Quite a different aberration is illustrated by fig.4 from the Kowloon

Canton Railway of Hong Kong. The normal product was printed by fouroperations; first the title, journey text, and class; second the overprinted zonalnumerals (4 a 1) and category (Warrant); third the skeleton letter 'R' on the

right; and finally the serial numbers at each end. What actually happened was

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somewhat different. The first and fourth processes reached the face side, while

the second and third managed to reach the reverse. This curious string of errors

was further compounded by the skeleton letter being upside down. The result was

a usable ticket, though hardly a likeable creation.

These matters are merely entertaining diversions. It is the properly printed

backs which provide a serious source of interest and research. Frequently they

carry conditions of issue or advertisements, but other features include monograms,

emblems, translations (of the opposite side) and, most frequently, the date of

issue of the ticket.

Six basic information groups, into which tickets may usefully be segregated for

study, will be considered in turn

A Identifying titles, initials and motifs.

B Conditions and regulations.

C Maps and devices related to the journey.

D Notices, slogans and advertisements.

E Dates a endorsements related to ticket function.

F Diarist messages, doodles and sketches.

Each of these groups will be illustrated by a geographical spread arranged to

demonstrate like and unlike treatment across a wide range of countries and

companies..

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A. IDENTIFYING TITLES, INITIALS AND MOTIFS

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Leading the way is an example of how an early Scottish railway identified itself

with ornate initials. 'E Et G' [5] belongs to the former Edinburgh Et Glasgow Railway

which opened in 1842 and was taken over by the North British Railway in 1865.

The corporate practice of identifying the

administration in this way was carried to Asia.

Africa and South America in full measure. The

railways of Lebanon frequently applied their

French-Ianguage initials to the reverse of cardtickets. giving the only immediate means of

identification for Western eyes. Today. Indian

railways continue to initial their tickets.whereas the method has lapsed in Africa and

South America.

One of the originally British-owned

Argentinian railways continued the practice untilits demise in 1948. See the fine example of, CA ' (for Central Argentine) centrally printed

on the reverse of a Sleeping Car ticket [6].

This is followed by an Indian ticket [7] in which

the Bengal Assam Railway applied its initials to

the reverse. at the same time obliterating thoseof the pre-November 1945 administration known

as 'BEtAR' -the absence of the ampersandafter that time reflected the change inadministration. -

More spectacular is fig.8 in which four

initials are shown in two pairs as 'NG' and

'SR'. These represent the Nizam's GuaranteedState Railway. After the line opened in 1874

and went through two short periods of

independent and agency working. HH The Nizam

of Hyderabad registered a London company to

operate lines in his state. This company existed

from 1885 until 1930. after which purchase by

Hyderabad created a State Railway leading to

eventual annexation by India's nationally-owned

Central Railway during 1951. Although 80% ofHyderabad's population was Hindu. the rulingHouse of the Nizam was Muslim. This is

reflected in the use of a Crescent and Star

emblem depicted between the two sets of

initials.

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It is perhaps as well to observe that not all such marks may be entirely relied

upon: errors and omissions may create false impressions. A noted 'howler' of this

sort was originated by Britain's Railway Executive Eastern Region. The Early

Morning Return tickets printed in 1953 for travel from Brentwood 6 Warley to

High Street Kensington etc bore the title "L.O.Ry" (representing the Liverpool

Overhead Railway!) on the reverse. This collector's gem arose from the tradit-

ional process of printing the reverse side text in advance on bulk supplies of

edmondson blank cut cards. Stock was later given its face printing in individual

batches as orders were received. The ex-London 6 North Eastern Railway printing

works had for many years supplied the Liverpool company with tickets under

contract, and the Early Morning Returns of both undertakings were very similar in

appearance. It seems that when this order was processed, the wrong 'back-

printed' stock was selected. Incidentally, the correct Regional Letter (E) of the

mainline railway appeared on the face, along with the correct journey text, so

the operative front belies the back. These tickets were actually issued and

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honoured, and one wonders what might have been the legal position regarding

notification to the passenger of the terms under which he used the train early one

morning. Nothing has been heard of any litigation arising!

A counterpart of this Eastern Region example, from about the same time, was

the error whereby a Scottish watery title was applied to a journey by bus from

Southend Airport! Some Ultimatic tickets produced for issue at Southend Airport

agency to cover the BR bus leg of the journey to Liverpool Street were printed

with the title and conditions of the Caledonian Steam Packet Company Ltd. The

exact printing process used in this instance is uncertain, but clearly the roll of

ticket stock had been back-printed for a different contract.

Errors on tickets make an interesting and sometimes amusing study, but it is

well to remember that we all make mistakes at times. It is the misfortune of

the typesetter that his errors may well be reproduced 1,000 or even 10,000 times.

When Allied Forces took control of the few railways in Libya during World War II,

residual stocks of Italian Colonial Administration tickets [9] had somehow survived.

These were adapted for immediate use, at least for a time. An overstamped"MOV AND TN" made it plain that working of the lines was in the hands of

'Movement a Transportation', then a function of Britain's Corps of RoyalEngineers and America's Transportation Corps. In due course there were speciallyprepared tickets with a new military heading.

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'compl.Dy i1111. ~hil Ticket for -

the !(1'lrUp... "TOJ'd thllir O'WUline as t!,e.A;lIrliJ oDly for otA1.r

Compa71i~, for .hGm 1he1 &1'.DOt reSpaD-'ibl.

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The second group deals with conditions of issue on the reverse side of tickets.

Before considering this group however, a ticket [10] which effectiyely links groups

A and B requires attention. A helpful feature is the opening words which identify

the issuing company -often the face of the ticket tells nothing of the identity

while the reverse is equally unforthcoming. The Dublin a Drogheda Railway

opened late in May 1844 and lasted until 1875 when its identity was lost in an

amalgamation forming the shortlived Northern of Ireland Railway, later part of the

better-known Great Northern Railway of Ireland. The wording of this ticket is

effectively a giant disclaimer, absolving the DaDR from any responsibility beyond

its own lines; the ticket was Issued during 1864.

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B. CONDITIONS AND REGULATIONS

Notification of essential conditions and regulations is usually achieved by drawing

attention to them on the relevant tickets. Various forms are adopted -ranging

from a terse "See published notices", or "Valid as advertised" to a fairly full

explanation of the rigours to be enforced. Certain paper tickets of the former

Cyprus Government Railway even referred directly to acts of war, to enemies andto death! 11

.

The reverse of a Birmingham 6 Midland

Tramways Workman's Ticket [11] is quite

absorbing. The mechanic, in his second

mention, attracts an acute accent not

previously accorded. This ticket was for a

penny ride into the city; its holder would

scarcely have had time to read the legend,

let alone to appraise its full import. He was

nevertheless bound by it throughout.

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The reverse side of tickets needs to be considered from many standpoints.

Queensland Railways for example. when they printed through single journey ticketsto Aramac on the adjoining Aramac Shire Council Tramway. adopted an unusual

procedure [12]. The card. for a single journey and of edmondson size. was dividedinto two coupons. each coupon backed by a statement of the conditions applied by

the individual carrier. The face of these coupons also carried the operator's title.

Specimens have been seen however. which are heavily clipped or boldly over-

stamped so as to obliterate these details. The reverse then becomes the solemeans of identification for the collector.

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Still within the notional group B, the tiny and shortlived 1938/9 Surrey Border

6 Camberley Railway provides the next illustration [13]. The company printed a

disclaimer on tickets for travel in Circus Trains to and from Mount Olivet Circusat Watchetts Wood, Surrey. It is no surprise that they "accept no resonsibility forthe safety of passengers visiting the Circus" but, very reasonably, they continued

to accept liability for any mishap that might befall the passenger while still on

the train.

c. MAPS AND DEVICES RELATED TO THE JOURNEY

This group has real potential for a

collector's archive. Maps, when they

appear in clear outline and with equallyclear placenames, complement other

ephemera of the same passenger line. Aneight-day kriskras (criss-cross) ticket of

the Netherlands Railways [14] is shown with

a map of the entire kingdom. An early

post-World War II pattern, it was

superseded in 1971 by a similar cardwithout the map. There are no placenames

shown,yet somehow the device clearlyconveys that travel was available throughoutthe railway system.

Ingenuity characterises the next item,fig.15 on page 8. This is the reverse of a

Hong Kong Tramways Souvenir Ticketcomplete with sketch of a tramcar and adiagram of the system. It must rate among

the most enlightening drawings, but it is

not known if there were matching Chinese

language issues. If not, one might suggestthat the tram stops should have beenbilingual, as indeed is the recto in certain

respects.

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Slechts geldlg. .met kasreglster- .opdruk en tezamen met NS-

Identlteltsbewljs, mlts het num-mer hlervan op de voorzljdevan deze kurt Is Ingevuld.

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krlskras per treln door

Nederland I

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by the quickest and

best route to and from

CANADA

AND THE

UNITED STATES

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The mode by which railway

passengers transferred from the

independent Dominion of Newfound-

land to the mainland of Canada

before the territories were united is

shown very clearly in a map issued

in 1937 at St.John's [16]. The

1.067m gauge Newfoundland Railway

operated across the island 875

kilometres from St John's in the

east to Port-aux-Basques, issuing a

wide-ranging series of tickets in the

process. There were also a variety

of coastal steamer tickets and many

through tickets to continental

destinations.

At Port-aux-Basques railway

steamers connected with North

Sydney, Nova' Scotia, where

passengers entrained for journeys

across Canada, and southward into

the United States. Although the

familiar lengthy coupon strips

usually suffered badly on the long

trips they documented, the

Newfoundland item illustrated has

survived largely intact. Travel was

from St John's to New York City

via Montreal, over the metals of the

Newfoundland, Canadian National,

~ i I Rutland, Boston 6 Maine and New

~. York Central Railroad Companies.

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[~': entertained the passenger in some

rffJ small measure during his watery

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From Spain comes a fourth 'map;..ticket' [17] in which groups B and C come

together happily. This is a First Class Annual Ticket of the 65 km metre-gauge

Ponferrada-Villablino Railway, formerly working in Spain north of Portugal. The

company not only printed its lengthy conditions of issue on the reverse (in black)

but combined this with a map of the line (in red) running through the textual

matter. At the foot of the card, one can see the proximity of the National

Railways (RENFE) station at Ponferrada.

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Se consld.ror6 nulo si por el interesodo, quien no

podr6 negorse o identificor su pe { ona por medlo de la firma o de la

cedula personal. ...T.qqo.r.

Deber6 ser presentado cuanta veces 10 exiian los empleados de la

Compaiira y ser6 recogida si 10 va tillzanda atra persana que aquella a.",l\fNO .

cuyo favor se hayaexpedldo.

Firma del interesada,

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del SeQura Obligalaria de y- 0 -

jeras. (R. D. 18 Octubre 19 ).PONFEI\I\ADA """' ..H"

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Operation wasI principally for mining

and the iron and steel

industry, with a

skeleton passenger

service using no more

than twenty carriages.

The stations, reading

northwards, are shown

as: Congosto, Toreno,

Matarrosa, Paramo,Palacios, and theterminus at Villablino.

The map seems also

to indicate eight

smaller un-named

stops (?flagstops).The function of the

map is uncertain; on

an annual ticket itcould have been little

more than a public

relations embellish-

ment.Fig. 18 shows the

back of a Holiday

Runabout Ticket ofthe years immediately

after the nationalis-ation of Britain's

railways in 1948.

Runabouts were gen-erally valid for seven

days within a defined

area, which was allo-

cated a number (in

this case 21). The

map on t~ back

served lthe / railway

authority.~~; by' clearlydefinIng tile territory

within which it was tobe honoured and at

the same time enabled

the passenger to planeach day's outing.

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war one. It fell outof favour during the 1950s, probably due to the constant changes brought about by

the closure of lines and stations and to a lesser degree by the alterations to

regional boundaries. Maps were replaced by lists of stations between which thetickets were available, the lists being more easily amended.

18

Another functional use of the reverse side, is that of affixing adhesive stamps.

These generally levy local or national transport surcharges, especially taxes of a

temporary nature; other examples are medical and disaster appeals. Fig.19 from

America's New York Lake Erie a Western Railroad, erroneously received its

adhesive revenue stamp on the face side. Fortuitously this makes it easier to

reproduce it in its entirety. An ordinary 1883 US postage stamp was used to

collect two cents. The United States had a considerable range of Revenue Stamps

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which were used for such purposes. Mr George Slaughter, mentioned as the holder

of this Multi-Trip ticket, was the grandfather of a close friend of its recent

owner. It has thus remained safely in one social circle for the whole of its

century and more.

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Four further examples of adhesive stamps on the back of tickets are given:

from Roumania [20], Bolivia [21], Thailand [22], with a fourth [23] issued in

Spain; in Spain the use of adhesive stamps in this way was widely practised

immediately following the Civil War of 1936-1939. The 10 centimos stamp incl-

udes a portrait of Jose Antonio, the political activist executed during that war.

During World War II German Army personnel were issued with an annual quota

of free travel stamps, and could acquire additional stamps for approved reasons.

These stamps were affixed to a military travel card validating it for a first or

subsequent journeys up to the distance value unused. Generally stamps were

affixed to the back of an extensive three-part card on which the holder's identity

and the railway conditions were set out at length.

Finally, in this group, it is intriguing to be able to show another Spanish ticket

which displays ...morse code, no less! This item [24], a Second Class single from

the former Northern Railways of Spain, codes the word Combinado (Combination)

[the code also appears on fig.23 but is largely obliterated by the stamp]. The

reason behind this use of a very un-railwaylike language has not been discovered

despite several years of enquiry. The code takes its name from its inventor,

Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872), an American painter, but so far as can

be ascertained he was not being commemorated by this railway and had no

particular Spanish or transport association. This conundrum is commended to the

attention of readers!

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CAMINm DEH\f.RRD DEL ftDRll.

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NOTICES, SLOGANS AND ADVERTISEMENTSD

In this group is placed an assortment of material- slogans, advertisements and

notices to the passenger -which can be a source of entertainment and

occasionally light relief. Other prints provide sound information for the

researcher, not least as pointers in social history.

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The official Notice printed on fig.25 deserves special consideration. This item

was sold around 1919 by the Detroit Fort Wayne 6 Belle Isle Railway jointly with

the Detroit Citizens' Street Railway. The City of Detroit was in almost constant

verbal warfare with these local operators: peace came only when their lines were

purchased by the City in 1922. In August 1918 the City had issued an Ordinance

reducing the regular fare from 6 cents to 5 cents. The companies had little option

but to comply, hence the statement "Sold under protest". Litigation continued for

some time and the legend remained until reluctantly omitted from tickets in 1921.

The prominently displayed 'W' denoted 'Workman's Ticket'.

There was little mutual sympathy between the transport operators seeking

profits, and the City Fathers looking towards re-election. Ephemera referring to

verbal skirmishes with authority and attendant legal niceties were not uncommon

among North American operators, railways and tramways (railroads and street

railways) frequently becoming involved in litigation in times of rising fares.

Either a separate ticket or a portion of the standard ticket would be retained by

the passenger,so that when a case went against the operator, the passenger could

present his retained portion as evidence of a refund due. Unpresented receipts

held by passengers often resided in their family papers for years, some of them

eventually finding their way into collections.

Advertisements, commercial and official, are well-known back-of-ticket features;

even the plain anonymous roll ticket that bears no more functional printing than

the serial number and amount charged can nevertheless provide an interesting

verso. When the local hotel or golf club advertises its wares, this may offer an

initial clue as to date of issue and perhaps even the identity of the issuer. When

the origin is not known the colour of the roll m aterial, the exact expression of

the fare and the advertisement wording can together sometimes clinch an identity.

Not always is the wording printed directly on the ticket. A fragment of a

1938 United States Great Northern Railway ticket is shown [26] which, apart from

its manuscript endorsement, validation stamp, and rubber-stamped "Summer

Excursion ", carries an enlightening printed sticker. This proclaims that for no

extra charge the journey was booked on The New Oriental Limited train, which

was "Specially Pullman equipped". The journey was from St Paul in Minnesota,

westward across the states of North Dakota, Montana and Idaho, to Spokane in

Washington, some 1,400 km and return, for $62 30c.

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The backs of soft card tramway tickets have been a favourite site for advert-

isements in cities allover the world. Recalling the days of 1930s suburbia and

the doubtful joys of paying for a mortgage with the weekly groceries, the

advertisement on a London Transport tram ticket [27] m,akes nostalgic reading.

We are told the sum of 9/3d weekly included interest as well as capital repay-

ment. One wonders as to the purchase price!

11

Still pre-war, but now on the west coast of Canada. Vancouver's 1936 Golden

Jubilee was celebrated on tickets of the British Columbia Electric Railway [28].

There was no room on the form for more than the bare statement and the two

dates, for these were among the tiniest of complete tickets; cards of this size

were in use on streetcar lines of Canada for many years. Generally they were

sold in strips or carnets, perforated for easy removal of a single item. Purchasers

of booklets enjoyed substantial discounts, as did scholars, teachers, workmen and

certain other groups for whom there were special prints.

28

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Also in celebratory vein is the ticket in fig.29 on which Douglas Corporation,

referred to its trams as "Still going strong" on their 80th anniversary in 1956.

Just a year later Liverpool Corporation, after a mere 60 years, marked the end of

its tramcars with the issue of a series of souvenir tickets [30]. These also used

an equine theme with a drawing of a horse tram but "Last Tram" is far less

jubilant than "Still going strong".

Earlier it was asked which side is to be

regarded as recto when one is effectively a

translation of the other. Fig.31 is a ticket

commemorating the first year of service (1973) of

the Bala Lake Railway in North Wales, but this

must be the back of the ticket for two reasons: it

is un-numbered and the text is in English whereas

this is essentially a Welsh railway. Confirmation

is provided by the fact that the other side is

serially numbered and wholly in Welsh, the

commemorative text reading

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31

TOCYN I DDATHLU'R FLWYDDYN

GYNTAF O WASANAETH

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The next two items [32] and [33] are quite remarkable. Each has a colourful

poetic fragment on the reverse where one would expect to find the conditions of

issue. The rhyming slogan on fig.32 translates as

Rush hour and prams

Don't get on well together.

This was a contribution to the staff magazine of the Bochum tramways in 1953,

by Guard Heinrich Becker, earning him second prize in a competition. An

unidentified contributor in 1954-5 submitted the verse on fig.33 which may be

rendered as

The platform, like a magnet

Attracts everybody to stand there

They prefer being badly squashed

To moving up the car.

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BerufSVerke~ und Klnderwagen

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These artistic contributions are from a long series of 1953-58 flimsy issues by the

tramways of the Bochum-Gelsenkirchener Strassenbahnen AG. Over sixty different

'poetickets' are known.

E DATES AND ENDORSEMENTS RELATED TO TICKET FUNCTION

Dates and validation marks are the principal items in this group. In the formative

days of railways, the familiar Edmondson dating press had not been invented and

it was necessary to enter dates in longhand. From the 1850s Thomas Edmondson's

equipment came into general use and an increasing number of railways worldwide

relied upon its dating system. This produced an unmistakable inked image,

endorsed on the ticket by metal type in various configurations. Variations

included the use of numerals and letters for months, positioning the month at one

end or in the middle of the string of characters, and the placing of the year first

or last. Refinements such as the time of departure, train number, machine

number or office identifier were sometimes added. There are cases where

abstract symbols served specialised local purposes (some not obvious to the

uninitiated). The year might be expressed with four, three, or two digits, or

indeed not at all [34].

r; ;. fA",;,'i~:~- -r .~I.. , .j 35

~ '- -., ..' , ,

:~~~ ..i;;:'.'.-~.~=.:~~~'~~~~ ::~, j...() I;',,", .'-. j:: : ---t;. .,,:;... ..~=::.

: ., .,.. 1::: :: J ' ~'.:.-~--., , .:.:.!i

34

Some companies used dating schemes designed to guard against fraudulent use.Others, unintelligible at first glance, conformed to a local calendar as in Japan,

Thailand, Moslem territories and elsewhere. In a few East European areas a

cyrillic alphabet is encountered, while Middle East territories may adopt arabic

script. Fig.35 comes from the former Lithuanian State Railways in the 1918-1940

era. Russian station spellings were in use until 1922. The 1937 perforated date

("23 29 III 37") has the potentially misleading prefix 1231, but this merely

identifies the machine which produced the perforation.

13 -

The reason why two different dates are found on the reverse of certain

Argentinian return tickets of the 1930s and 1940s is of interest. The ticket was

dated at one end at the time of issue, usually by standard drystamp. The holder

was then enjoined "This ticket should be presented at the station where return

journey is to commence, to be revalidated." Here the second date was applied at

the opposite end, giving useful additional control. United States practice in this

respect was meant to ensure that the holder who made the outward trip was also

the person who used the return coupons. Evidence of identity of the holder was

obtained at the time of sale by signature in the presence of the selling clerk

(agent), as well as, usually, denoting the gender by appropriately punching the box

provided.

"

Predating of card tickets is usually on the face-side (which excludes them from

this essay), but there are nevertheless instances of predating on the reverse.

Methods of dating edmondson cards may be considered under seven sub-headings:

Predated. Dates fixed for the entire print run of one issue, generally in the text

but occasionally by overprint when the operative date became available only after

initial production. Predating is usually adopted for long runs of excursion and

special occasion cards, regulation tickets, and souvenirs.

A problem is that of estimating the optimum number of tickets for a

particular occasion; it is necessary to print rather more than the likely demand

but if the response is less than forecast, wastage is inevitable. During the early

1930s, the Canadian Pacific Railway solved the problem by ordering bulk supplies

of excursion tickets printed on one side with part of the journey detail, excluding

the date and occasionally even the destination. When these were firm, an

appropriate number of tickets would be passed through a second back-print process

as illustrated by Fig.36, issued for a "Moonlight Excursion" in 1943.

z~~-z-"""i-r ~'i"""'.i~ -, -F

... i!3 '3I~lii~~1 ~ 1.!!L I~~~ ~ ~ UI Th!' ticket 1, I'","d 0" tt,e t.ondjtj"". It,at tJ1o

..., I' 1 O I6 e L -n I 8, 'ti,h Railway, 80ard, Great We.tern Society

~ to ~ to to 9 V Limited, Great We,torn Pro,orva,lon, liml!ed-~ and Marlow Maldenhoad RaIlway P..,en,or

N A"oclatlon .hall not be lIable In re,pect orCAliFORNIA STREET CABLE R. R. COo a"ypor.onallnluryorlo..ofordam.,etoproperty

however cou,ed that may be .u,'olned by the

holder."

This transfer Is void unless presenle<l .t

P'9per traosler polnl .nd before explralloo 0'

time p\111tbe4 In DI8f&ln.

LEST£R K. WELLS. Sec'p

,- -.-:-:c,c~. --.,.-~ ~.,-.-"

37

ISlh IULY 197J

36 38

Sometimes the date is incorporated directly into the text. Fig.37 is a 1944

card of the California Street Cable Railroad, predated with month first, followed

by day and year; the apostrophe before the year is an uncommon form of punct-

uation in this context.

A ticket predated as recently as 1973 is shown in fig.38. This was a

commemorative issue for the centenary of Britain's Marlow branch -familiarly

the 'Marlow Donkey'. On anniversary day, 15th July 1973, restored locomotives

worked various special services but the occasion was something of a damp squib -

the wettest, windiest and coldest July day in recent memory. The date is,

however, permanently recorded by the surplus tickets (there were predatedplatform tickets as well). The face of the travel tickets shows a fare of " 5/-"

and "Third Class", yet the conditions and preprinted date betray these as

anachronisms fifteen years after BR's third class was redesignated second, and

nearly 2! years after the currency was decimalised.

Rubberstamped. Application of an unsteady hand-held rubber stamp, with day/year

numerals and month names. An example is fig.39 from the Kent 6 East Sussex

Railway, endorsed "29 MAR 1938". Characteristic of rubberstamped dates is the

use of four digits for year numbers, the year being a single element in the

stamp, whereas the units and tens of the day numerals are changed independently.

The method is routinely used for tickets issued in advance, to avoid changing pre-

set date type, but wear and tear and haphazard inking lead to poor alignment and

legibility.

-14

Dry-stamped. Type pieces relying upon precise, usually case-hardened, steel type

to create a deep impression on the surface of the ticket. Some impressions cut

so deeply as to almost penetrate the opposite side; these are generally dates using

the minimum of characters. Where there are added features and smaller

typefaces, as in fig. 40, the type needs to be particularly precise.

Added security, and the absence of ink ribbons and associated extras, probably

justifies this process; dry-stamping is also useful in hot climates where inked

ribbons would dry out quickly..

"""

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42

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39 4041

,.. :;f':,;;APel.6-

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Cran.ferable; .IL i.

la.ued.Dbject' to Lb.

Bye I£W8. CoDdiLiOD..RoIH &Dd RegulaI.ionaot Lbe"relJ1lOCLiva Oom-

panle8 0... wh08LiD. I' la ;. ~UabJe,

-~ pub!i.l' ,- Lbelrc -""b.

" c

There are twelve characters in the drystamp from the Royal Siamese State

Railways [40]), an organisation which dated either the front or the back of its

tickets. From left to right these characters are: day-month-year-TRain number-

clerk number. The Siamese year in this case is (24)76, equating with the Western

(19)33. Two other drystamped dates are illustrated: fig.41 issued by the

Quelimane Railway in Mozambique with its 1962 year expressed by three numerals,

and fig. 42 from the former Austria-Hungary State Railways. In this case, the

year, expressed as three digits, appears before the !lJUL 12!1 date, with a trailing, 2' identifying the office ( window) of issue.

lnk-pressed. Type is inked via either a ribbon or a pad, the two processes being

quite distinct: ribbons come between the ticket and the date-type; pads are rather

less advanced and simply serve to ink the type before it meets the ticket. Ink-

pressed dates are produced by means of a press or hefty instrument which holds

the typeface, the ink-source, and the mechanism to create pressure. Typically it

is a simple free-standing table-top machine. One Thomas Edmondson design

incorporated two pivoting components or jaws in which the ticket was gripped

during endorsement, a locking pin ensuring that the type remained in place.

Another model incorporates a sliding

chase into which type may be held ready v J

and inserted on commencement of

business for the set date. Although

nowadays regarded as 'low-tech' the

process survives in widespread use.

Examples of ink-pressed dating are

fig.34 (page 13), ascribed to 1862, an

early form with the year omitted, and

fig. 43 from Britain's South Eastern a

Chatham Railway 24 January 1906. The

ticket shown in fig.44 was issued the

following day and some thousands of .

kilometres away in Cape Colony: this fdating shows the standard of clarity ~

achieved when the equipment was kept in

good order.

c~

4443

-15 -

i ~--;-]~24AU &3~1f 'i

I; -.,: '- ; ;i. c, ";.; .: ~, .

t ..'N 1:. J";

.." .\

Fig.45 shows the back of a Victorian Railways single dated 24 August 1913, with

train number 1 as a suffix, while fig. 46 is a 1 July 1936 specimen displaying the

smaller fount often employed by Britain's London 6 North Eastern Railway.

--~- -~ , -r-.~uL~ --I ',.t\f." 8 lfi

,; .",;":':;"i"a 1.S IiI ,

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'~~~'I..;..!'.'J'= -~J"

47

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48

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.,. .

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4645

49

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"

Returning to the more normal size we have three more ink pressed dates: fig.47

dated 17 FY 7 displays an abbreviation for the month first associated with

railways, but the failure of the first digit of the year number to print up leaves

one in doubt as to when this ticket of the Londonderry a Lough Swilly Railway in

Ireland was issued; probably it was in 1897. Fig.48, a single ticket with the joint

heading of South Eastern a Chatham a District Railways shows the abbreviated

month name leading the day and year, as "AP 3 15"; the month also leads the

date on the ticket from England's London Brighton a South Coast Railway [49]

where before the month is the mark 'B' identifying a particular booking office

window.

Perforation. In this process, a perforated base carries a matrix of holes matching

which are pins or styli arranged to create shapes and symbols forming figures and

letters. Typically the male pins are the upper element and these enter a lower

chase or frame. The two units are formed of variable precision-machined

segments. As with the drystamping mechanisms, wear and tear must have been

considerable, especially when dating card tickets. Probably the over-riding

advantage is security; perforated dates are unalterable. They also have the

advantage of piercing several layers of ticket material when used to date booklets

and multiple documents, though these perforators generally use much larger

components and characters.

The Lithuanian ticket (fig.35 on page 13) illustrates a 1---;: ;:-:-:-;::-- ] " fairly conventional day-month-year string of characters. i ':: :.~::.~ ::::

Another example of a perforated ticket date is fig.50, a F~ .

return journey card of India's North Western Railway. It is I. .~,!d&..-:-J

not possible to say which year this was issued, although from~ ~

the style of printing and other evidence 1938 would be a f£J'"""

reasonable assumption. The perforation specifies "19 MR ' ---~~-~J

B", the suffixed letter meaning 'window B' or 'till B' as it 50

might be described in some quarters.

Validators" These are various sorts and sizes of free-standing machine; many are

intricate self-inking ribbon-fed handstamps. There are proprietory makes peculiar

to an operator or group, with refinements dictated by the volume and nature of

the traffic. Validators on board the Canadian National Railways West Coast

Steamers held very large rubber plates with a centre variable date and 'sailing

number', whereas those used at a tiny wayside station in northern Mexico were

small steel frames holding a poor grade dating chase in the centre and fixed

station type spaced around it.

-16 -

0000..;

"

Q.C.-;-~i...!E '

.~ ' .

~ ,;8" ,,"0:,;. ~

."~,

~ ,t.~ , ,

-..""'!

Equipment described by a former New York country agent. because of its

weight had to be counterbalanced in a light metal jig. This enabled endorsement

features to register in the preferred area of the form each time with minimal

effort. Otherwise the endorsement is prone to overlap the ticket edges.

Characteristic features included purple ink. and circular badges enclosing the

text; generally these features are found across North and Central America. where

such daters enjoyed widespread use. Among the exceptions was an intricate shield

shape found on many early Canadian Pacific edmondsons. and throughout the

United States there were validators producing only the text with no frame or

outline of any kind. Three shapes are reproduced in figs. 51-3: the Chihuahua

Pacific Railway of Mexico used the circle at one main station July 3 1962. the

Spokane Portland a Seattle Railway in Washington State used an oval design

Oct 16 1947 and north of the US border Canadian National Railways adopted a

square. May 10.1938.

~

51 52

5453 55

.~.

Manuscript Frequently found on tickets dated at wayside stopping places (when

staffed), at factories, and units not geared to station practices. At larger

stations and some agencies, dates may be in manuscript when entered in advance.

Manuscript dates are also commonly found on tickets issued through the post and

specimens fully printed but awaiting date of issue or payment of the fare.

Manuscript dates are subject to the idiosyncracies of personal handwriting. The

month often turns out to be a numeral- it is easier to write '9' than 'Sep' or

'September'. On the ticket shown in fig.54, issued by the industrial Tharsis Rio

Odiel Railway in Spain, the writer has entered "7.21.2.49", identifying the train

number with an initial '7'. This railway provided for dating on the front, but

sometimes ignored that space to apply dates on the reverse- rather like the

Bolivians who generally print a space for fares only to use it for seat numbers or

departure times !

From the Indian sub-continent comes fig. 55, with its printed conditions, three

rubber-stamped endorsements and an added signature. This shows just how much

can be accommodated on the back of a ticket, though at the expense of clarity;

it is a Third Class return issued in Colombo, Sri Lanka, for travel to Madras,

India. The ( then) Ceylon Government Railway printed a two-coupon edmondson on

behalf of itself and the Southern Railway of India, to include journeys by ferry.

On the journey north from Colombo 11 August 1980, the ticket was rubber-

stamped by inspectors at Talaimannar Pier on the island line running northwest,

the endorsement correctly placed on the back of the northbound portion. At the

jetty the passenger boarded the TSS Ramanujam for the 3! hour trip across to

India's Tamu Nadu state. For the return journey from Madras via Tiruchirapalli

(Trichinopoly) the card was endorsed as "Available on 13/8/80" and at the pier at

-17 -

Rameswaram a further check was endorsed by rubber-stamp. The same vessel was

used for the southbound ferry journey, although in this case the ferries did not go

alongside the pier; passengers were ferried in smaller boats to and fro as required.

DIARIST MESSAGES, DOODLES AND SKETCHESF.

The first example in this unpredictable group is the reverse of an 1860s ticket

from Edgware Road station in London [56]. The manuscript message, presumably

to be ascribed to the original holder of the ticket, is transcribed here in so far asit can be deciphered -

56 "F.T.Edwards. Jany.8.1868.Living at 28 Addison Gar-

-dens South Kensington W.

Went to call upon Col.W

de StHelena, a spent

evening alone with Aunt

Sarah Jane at the Lodge.

For a week continual snow

frosty a very cold.

This morning to Garton

St Church a Westr Abbey."

'-I

~

What is one to make of this? In the absence of any trace of Colonel St Helena

and Aunt Sarah Jane, the specimen is carefully preserved in case its few clues

may be of interest to some researcher.

More tangible is the romantic endorsement on a Sleeping Car ticket [57] issued

in the eastern United States in 1870 by Train Conductor C.H.Bagley of theConnecticut a Passumpsic Rivers RR. On the reverse is written -

"On our Wedding Tour in Canada 12/2/70" [1870]

How fine it would have been if the newly married couple had retained tickets

covering their entire tour astride the US-Canada border. With no information

regarding the precise journey, it would be highly speculative even to list the likely

railway companies concerned. Had the couple added their family and home town

names to this endorsement it would have been possible to trace more detail.

Fortuitously, the card attracted a heart-shaped punch.

f!;'~~~,~ "' " "~;,-"- " ~ 7- ...

'1(;";C>'\~..bvt' ty e..0..d.'l.~\~ ,,~~,,::,::;~,:-3-;-~ "

-," '. ;v~."-'\~'-".:I" -\,'\ "C.\t\~,;. ,ryl~lio .."- '~;:- -' ;~:

I ;c!'~'.\,i.-,-,:,-.c c--,~~-.\'~l'.;'... .' ,,:- ;: ;,

f..

,.

58

57

Considerably more informative and from much earlier in the history of railways

is a ticket of Scotland's North British Railway [58] -for a journey partly

accomplished by stagecoach! The North British Railway was opened between

Edinburgh and Berwick on 22nd June 1846 but until the Newcastle 6 Berwick

Railway was opened throughout on 1st July of the following year connection to the

south was maintained by a shortlived service of horse-drawn stagecoaches. This

ticket was from Edinburgh to Newcastle, 'First Class' and 'Inside', and endorsed

-18 -

~

on the back as valid on the High flyer at 11 36am (presumably from Berwick) on

23rd September 1846. The ticket was one of a number retained by the coach

proprietor for 50 years or so; when eventually instructions were given for them to

be destroyed, a small bundle nevertheless survived to provide priceless specimens

for collectors.

.s- -Conclusion -

He who examines the reverse of every ticket is assured of further information.

Sometimes this will amount to 'nothing new' -on the other hand a whole new

area of interest may unfold.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This paper is based on an unpublished manuscript prepared several years ago. It isoffered as a contribution from many sources -members of the TTS and others -

who have provided tickets, information and encouragement. Particular mention

must be made of the ready assistance given at all stages by Peter Wootton, but I

am also much indebted to Michael Farr, Friedhelm Friedrichs, Mike Sparrow,

Robert Wheeler and Trevor White; even these must represent less than a tenth of

my valued correspondents over the years.

Gordon FairchildJune 1991

~

-19 -

Iodex of Companies and Corporations

,

"

...

Antofagasta (a:tili) & &:>livia Ry 10

Aranac Shire Comcil Ty 7

Armies 6

Austria-Hungary State Rys IS

Bala Lake Ry 12

Bengal AsSaIl Ry S

Bengal & AsSaIl Ry S

Bi1miDgblln & Midland Tys 6

~1Selki.rchen Tys 12

&:>Stoo & Maine RR 8

British Columbia Electric Ry 12

British Railways Board 14

Caledooian Stean Packet Co 6

California Street Cable RR 14

Canadian Natiooal Rys 8 16 17

Canadian Pacific Ry 14 17

Cape Goverme:t t Rys 1 S

Central Argentine Ry S

Celtral Ry India S

Cey loo Govemrent Ry 17

Chihuahua Pacific Ry 17

Connecticut & Pas~sic Rivers RR 18

~ Goverme:tt Ry 6

Detroit Citizens' Street Ry 11

Detroit Fort Wayne & Belle Isle Ry 11

District Ry 16

fuuglas CorJX)ratioo Tpt 12

D.Jblin & Drogheda Ry 6

EdinbJrgh & GlasgrM Ry S

Great Eastern Ry 13

Great Northern Ry Ireland 6

Great Northern Ry USA 11

Great Western Ry 18

Great Western Society 14

Hong Katg Tys 7 8

Italian State Rys 6

Kent & East Sussex: Ry 14

~l000 Canton Ry 4

Libya Region of Italian State Rys 6

LitlnJanian State Rys 13 16

LiverJX>Ol CorIX>ratioo Passe:tger Tpt 12

Li verlXX) 1 Overhead Ry 5

Lcndoo Brightoo & South Coast Ry 16

Londoo & North Eastern Ry 5 16

Lcndoo Passe:tger Transrx>rt fuard Tys 11

Lond<X1derry & Laugh Swilly Ry 16

~terranean Ry 3

~tropolitan District Ry 16

~tropolitan Ry 18

MJveIe1t & Transrx>rtation 6

Nether lands Rys 7

New York Central RR 8

New York Lake Erie & Western RR 9

New Zealaxxl Rys 3

Newfomdland Ry 8

Ni~'s Guaranteed State Ry 5

North British Ry 5 18

North Western Ry 16

Northern of Ire land Ry 6

Northern Rys of Spain 10

Ponferrada-Villablioo Ry 8

~laxxl Rys 7 ,-

~linmte Ry 15

Railway Executive, The 5 9

Rounanian State Rys 10

Royal Engineers 6

Royal & ~rial State Rys 3

Royal Si~e State Rys 15

Rut land Ry 8

~th Eastern & Chat1UBn Ry 15 16

Southend AirIX>rt Agelcy 6

~thern Ry India 17

Spanish National Rys 8 9

Spokane Portland & Seattle Ry 17

State Rys of Thailand 10

Surrey Border & CalIber ley Ry 7

Tharsis Rio (kliel Ry 17

United States Transrx>rtation Corps 6

Victorian Rys 16~

-20 -

~

-

....T

'!

~'.

Published by The Transport Ticket Society

18 Villa Road, Luton LU2 7NT~

The Transport Ticket Society was formed in 1963 and aims to further

the study, collection and exchange of transport tickets of the world,and to publish information on tickets and methods of fare collection.

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