Railway Air Services - Railex
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Copyright © 2022 Robert Farquharson All Rights Reserved
RAS Railway Air Services Railex Covers Redgrove’s explanation of the Railex letter is best repeated in full. “The Post Office announced that, commencing 20 August, 1934, the " Railex " system would be in operation in connection with the R.A.S. air mail. Under this system, operating on week-days when messengers are on duty, and still in operation so far as railways are concerned, any Post Office which is an express delivery office will accept an unregistered packet, convey it to the appropriate railway station, and despatch it by the next available train. On arrival, providing this is during hours when messengers are on duty, it will be met by a messenger and delivered to the addressee. The charge for a letter not exceeding 2 oz. in weight is 2/6. In the case of the R.A.S. air mail service the plane took the place of a train. For some totally inexplicable reason, neither dealers nor collectors, with very few exceptions, appear to have taken advantage of this service in connection with R.A.S. first flights. Eight " railex " letters were despatched on 20 August by a dealer from Birmingham, addressed to Cowes, and, according to his own statement, flown to Bristol only. A few others probably went on other routes. On 23 August, 1934, Railway Air Services, Ltd., commenced again to accept railway letters under the special provisions applying to railway companies only. As already noted, a special fee of 3d., in addition to postage, is charged on a railway letter not exceeding 2 oz. in weight. On 20 August, 1934, the Company introduced the use of a special boxed cachet containing the letters " R.A.S." in a circle, and reading " 3D PAID " underneath. This was applied to both railway and " railex " letters, and took the place of the pre-paid parcel labels used on railway and railex " letters carried by rail. Railway letters of 23 August, 1934, are extremely scarce. Again, both dealers and collectors missed a big opportunity. As things are, one is hampered in the study of the covers by the lack of available material. However, I believe that railway letters for conveyance. by RAS were, during the opeation of the system. accepted only at Belfast. Manchester, Liverpool, and Birmingham. The special " R.A.S. 3d paid " cachet was applied to railex " letters accepted at London, but railway letters were not accepted there. This acceptance was rendered unnecessary by the fact that it was possible to hand over letters at the Head Office of Imperial Airways, Ltd., London, 30 minutes after the mail had closed at the G.P.O This special supplementary mail was postmarked " WILTON ROAD/ HUDSON'S PLACE/ S.W. I" or "WILTON RD/ HUDSONS PCE SW1 ", the two types of postmark differing in size. Both types show the date but, unfortunately, no time. No extra charge was made. Judging from a study of railex letters posted at various dates, considerable confusion appears to have existed concerning correct franking. According to Post Office regulations, the covers should bear a 1 1/2d. stamp only, but covers franked with stamps to the value of either 2/6 or 2/3, the balance in the latter case being accounted for by the R.A.S. cachet, were accepted. Some " railex " covers bear an express label, others do not. Railex covers bear the postmark of the town of departure. Railway letter covers, on the other hand, normally bear the postmark of the town of the plane's arrival, where they were posted. However, railway letters accepted at Belfast on certain dates (31 October and 1 November, 1934) are postmarked " BELFAST." In other cases, one has to accept as valid the indication of town of departure written or typed by the sender on the cover. The only exceptions I have met with are certain railway letters which, in addition to the R.A.S. 3d. paid cachet, bear the cachet ' LIVERPOOL, LIME STREET " or " BIRMINGHAM SNOW HILL/ G.W.31 " in violet. Regarding the colours in which the R.A.S. 3d. paid cachet was applied I hesitate to generalise, but apparently Glasgow and London applied the cachet in black ink, often so pale as to appear grey, Belfast used bright green or greenish-grey, Manchester and Liverpool used violet, and Birmingham black or violet.”
As described above very few railex letters were sent on the first day, the main block being eight sent by a dealer from Birmingham to Cowes. That dealer was Francis Field and two of the eight envelopes sent are shown below. The covers only got as far as Bristol when bad weather prevented any further progress, and they were sent by surface to Freshwater Bay. Curiously the first example has the 3d paid applied in manuscript. It would be presumed that the 3d stamp was not yet available, but the second example also sent from Birmingham does have a 3d cachet. The second example also has a backstamp first the 21st which is curious as it would surely have a backstamp of the 20th if sent on by surface after it reached Bristol.

First Railex

Railex letter sent on first day of service 20th Aug 1934
Railex letter sent on first day of service 20th Aug 1934
There was some confusion about how the 2sh 6d rate for the Railex service should be paid. It consisted of 2 shillings 1 1/2d for railex, 1 1/2d for the stamp, and 3d for the Railway letter. Post Office instructions made clear that only a 1 1/2d stamp was required for the service, yet nearly all examples show the whole 2sh and 6d being applied as stamps. As can be seen in the examples below the 2sh 6d seahorse was a popular choice, even though this meant overpaying. In the second example the correct fee of 2sh and 3d has been applied even though the stamps were not required
On the 30th November, the Post Office relinquished its mail contract which was taken over by Hillman Airways on the London to Glasgow route. There was no mail contract for the other two routes for this period. This was the last official date for railex as it was discontinued when the new contract resumed in 1935.
When the new contract was resumed, the Railex service was no longer available. The two examples below show this did not stop Railex letters being sent. The first example is a test letter presumably to see whether railex were still being accepted. In the second example, the 2sh 6d paid has been dismissed by the clerk as ‘senders excess’, then presumably sent on a normal non railex service.
Test Railex letter sent from Wick to London 2nd Dec 1934
Railex letter 30th November 1935 appears rejected.
British Internal Airmails of the 1930’s
Last day of service Birmingham to Liverpool Railex
First day of service Liverpool to London Railex
Oct 31st 1934 last flight to Manchester
Dec 2nd 1935 first flight new contract to Liverpool
Last Railex London to Liverpool 30th Nov 1934
Last Railex Liverpool to Glasgow 30th Nov 1934
The confusion over Railex letters at the beginning of the new contract is illustrated on the example on the left. The letter is clearly marked to go by air and it has received an Express sticker which shows for certain it was accepted as a Railex. While most letters had more postage this is correct. Railex letters according to regulations should only have the internal postage of 1 1/2d. The rest was paid to the office accepting the Railex.
Railway Air Services - Railex
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site search by freefind
Copyright © 2020 Robert Farquharson All Rights Reserved
RAS Railway Air Services Railex Covers Redgrove’s explanation of the Railex letter is best repeated in full. “The Post Office announced that, commencing 20 August, 1934, the " Railex " system would be in operation in connection with the R.A.S. air mail. Under this system, operating on week-days when messengers are on duty, and still in operation so far as railways are concerned, any Post Office which is an express delivery office will accept an unregistered packet, convey it to the appropriate railway station, and despatch it by the next available train. On arrival, providing this is during hours when messengers are on duty, it will be met by a messenger and delivered to the addressee. The charge for a letter not exceeding 2 oz. in weight is 2/6. In the case of the R.A.S. air mail service the plane took the place of a train. For some totally inexplicable reason, neither dealers nor collectors, with very few exceptions, appear to have taken advantage of this service in connection with R.A.S. first flights. Eight " railex " letters were despatched on 20 August by a dealer from Birmingham, addressed to Cowes, and, according to his own statement, flown to Bristol only. A few others probably went on other routes. On 23 August, 1934, Railway Air Services, Ltd., commenced again to accept railway letters under the special provisions applying to railway companies only. As already noted, a special fee of 3d., in addition to postage, is charged on a railway letter not exceeding 2 oz. in weight. On 20 August, 1934, the Company introduced the use of a special boxed cachet containing the letters " R.A.S." in a circle, and reading " 3D PAID " underneath. This was applied to both railway and " railex " letters, and took the place of the pre-paid parcel labels used on railway and railex " letters carried by rail. Railway letters of 23 August, 1934, are extremely scarce. Again, both dealers and collectors missed a big opportunity. As things are, one is hampered in the study of the covers by the lack of available material. However, I believe that railway letters for conveyance. by RAS were, during the opeation of the system. accepted only at Belfast. Manchester, Liverpool, and Birmingham. The special " R.A.S. 3d paid " cachet was applied to railex " letters accepted at London, but railway letters were not accepted there. This acceptance was rendered unnecessary by the fact that it was possible to hand over letters at the Head Office of Imperial Airways, Ltd., London, 30 minutes after the mail had closed at the G.P.O This special supplementary mail was postmarked " WILTON ROAD/ HUDSON'S PLACE/ S.W. I" or "WILTON RD/ HUDSONS PCE SW1 ", the two types of postmark differing in size. Both types show the date but, unfortunately, no time. No extra charge was made. Judging from a study of railex letters posted at various dates, considerable confusion appears to have existed concerning correct franking. According to Post Office regulations, the covers should bear a 1 1/2d. stamp only, but covers franked with stamps to the value of either 2/6 or 2/3, the balance in the latter case being accounted for by the R.A.S. cachet, were accepted. Some " railex " covers bear an express label, others do not. Railex covers bear the postmark of the town of departure. Railway letter covers, on the other hand, normally bear the postmark of the town of the plane's arrival, where they were posted. However, railway letters accepted at Belfast on certain dates (31 October and 1 November, 1934) are postmarked " BELFAST." In other cases, one has to accept as valid the indication of town of departure written or typed by the sender on the cover. The only exceptions I have met with are certain railway letters which, in addition to the R.A.S. 3d. paid cachet, bear the cachet ' LIVERPOOL, LIME STREET " or " BIRMINGHAM SNOW HILL/ G.W.31 " in violet. Regarding the colours in which the R.A.S. 3d. paid cachet was applied I hesitate to generalise, but apparently Glasgow and London applied the cachet in black ink, often so pale as to appear grey, Belfast used bright green or greenish-grey, Manchester and Liverpool used violet, and Birmingham black or violet.”
As described above very few railex letters were sent on the first day, the main block being eight sent by a dealer from Birmingham to Cowes. That dealer was Francis Field and two of the eight envelopes sent are shown below. The covers only got as far as Bristol when bad weather prevented any further progress, and they were sent by surface to Freshwater Bay. Curiously the first example has the 3d paid applied in manuscript. It would be presumed that the 3d stamp was not yet available, but the second example also sent from Birmingham does have a 3d cachet. The second example also has a backstamp first the 21st which is curious as it would surely have a backstamp of the 20th if sent on by surface after it reached Bristol.

First Railex

Railex letter sent on first day of service 20th Aug 1934
There was some confusion about how the 2sh 6d rate for the Railex service should be paid. It consisted of 2 shillings 1 1/2d for railex, 1 1/2d for the stamp, and 3d for the Railway letter. Post Office instructions made clear that only a 1 1/2d stamp was required for the service, yet nearly all examples show the whole 2sh and 6d being applied as stamps. As can be seen in the examples below the 2sh 6d seahorse was a popular choice, even though this meant overpaying. In the second example the correct fee of 2sh and 3d has been applied even though the stamps were not required
On the 30th November, the Post Office relinquished its mail contract which was taken over by Hillman Airways on the London to Glasgow route. There was no mail contract for the other two routes for this period. This was the last official date for railex as it was discontinued when the new contract resumed in 1935.
When the new contract was resumed, the Railex service was no longer available. The two examples below show this did not stop Railex letters being sent. The first example is a test letter presumably to see whether railex were still being accepted. In the second example, the 2sh 6d paid has been dismissed by the clerk as ‘senders excess’, then presumably sent on a normal non railex service.
Test Railex letter sent from Wick to London 2nd Dec 1934
British Internal Airmails of the 1930’s
Last day of service Birmingham to Liverpool Railex
Oct 31st 1934 last flight to Manchester
Last Railex London to Liverpool 30th Nov 1934