New Issue: Steam Locomotives (GB)

The Royal Mail has released its latest issue today - the thirteenth (!) set of special stamps this year.

This issue depicts steam locomotives. The first thing to say is that this is not an unusual theme for Royal Mail. There have been several previous issues around railways and steam locomotives so I will list them.

In 1975 a set (left) was created to mark the 150th anniversary of public railways.

Four years later a set was issued to mark the 150th anniversary of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, featuring Rocket and several carriages.

In 1985 another set of famous trains showed five different steam locomotives. In 2004 there was set with pictures of classic locomotives and in 2010 there was another set of six stamps celebrating Great British Railways, each with a black and white photograph of a steam locomotive.

The new issue is nicely designed but is it different to what we've had before? Not really. The stamps showing Locomotion No 1 and Rocket are very similar to the stamps showing those same locos from 1965 and 1979.

it's important to point out that this set has been created to mark the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway. The six stamps in this series depict: Locomotion No 1 Rocket City of Truro Mallard Duchess of Hamilton Evening Star Design Quality - This is the best thing about these stamps. While there have been previous sets showing locomotives, they either had plain backgrounds or were based on photographs/paintings. For the first time some terrific creative work has gone into creating the backgrounds and it works really well. Modern design techniques have created backdrops from different eras and the effect is fantastic. From a design point of view, I think this is the best locomotives set yet! 8/10

Theme and Subject Choice - It's another issue showing locomotives and, while the design is great, did we need a sixth set on the same theme? I think the 200th anniversary of the Stockton & Darlington Railway would have been a very good subject, but it could have been done differently with more focus on that specific railway rather than a history of locos, which is pretty much the same as in 1975 and almost every set since. There was so much they could have worked with, but Royal Mail went for they easy option. 4/10

Historical and Cultural Relevance - The anniversary is definitely a historically relevant event that should be marked. Sadly Royal Mail seems to only know how to celebrate local railways by creating nice pictures of locomotives. 5/10

Innovation and Creativity - I think the design here is wonderfully creative! Well done! As I've said I think the subject matter itself should have been different, but the design team have done a brilliant job. 8/10

Collectability - It's another of these issues that will really appeal to thematic collectors and there are lots who enjoy collecting railway-related stamps. 8/10

Personal Appeal - I really like the design and on the whole I think these are really good stamps. My main criticisms are that these are very similar to other Royal Mail issues and that more could have been done to stress the importance of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, which isn't even mentioned on these stamps (an additional minisheet, shown below, does show some historic pictures of the S&DR). I especially like the Rocket stamp, perhaps because I live only four miles away from Rainhill and I was part of the 2019 celebrations for the 190th anniversary of the Rainhill Trials. I would love to be able to buy just the Rocket stamps to use on my mail because of the local connection, but do you think my local post office had any for sale today? Erm, no. 7/10

Overall score: 40/60 The minisheet is below with the stamps in a completely different style. It is a nice addition, but to buy this and the six stamps in the main set would cost £17.00.