Battleship Cove : Hiddensee

Hiddensee is a Russian-built missile corvette that was deployed by the East German Navy during the mid-to-late 1980s. Shortly after the reunification of Germany, she was transferred to the US Navy, where she served as a test platform for five years. She arrived at Battleship Cove in Fall River, MA in 1997 and exhibits a fascinating collection of Cold War technology.

Sent by Iryna from Connecticutt, USA.

Hiddensee was a Tarantul-class corvette. Originally a Soviet naval warship, the corvette was transferred first to the East German navy, then to the new unified German Navy, and ended her career in the United States as a non-commissioned naval ship. After decommissioning, she was later part of the Battleship Cove site at Fall River, Massachusetts as a museum ship, before being scrapped in 2023.

The Tarantul I-class missile corvette was launched in 1984 at the Petrovsky Shipyard of Almaz Shipbuilding Company in Leningrad, Russian SFSR. She was commissioned in 1985 by the East German Volksmarine as Rudolf Egelhofer, but after the reunification of Germany in 1990, she was transferred to the German Navy and renamed Hiddensee (read more).

'Mallard', London & North Eastern Railway Locomotive no 4468

'Mallard', London & North Eastern Railway Locomotive no 4468, 1938

The A4 Pacific class 'Mallard' was designed by Sir Nigel Gresley (1876-1941). On Sunday 3 July 1938, the 4-6-2 locomotive reached a speed of 126 mph, achieving a new world speed record for steam locomotives which remains unbroken to this day.

Sent by Hannah from Yorkshire, England.

LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard is a 4-6-2 ("Pacific") steam locomotive built in 1938 for operation on the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works to a design of Nigel Gresley. Its streamlined, wind tunnel tested design allowed it to haul long-distance express passenger services at high speeds. On 3 July 1938, Mallard broke the world speed record for steam locomotives at 126 mph (203 km/h), which still stands today.

While in British Railways days regular steam-hauled rail services in the UK were officially limited to a 90 mph (140 km/h) 'line speed', before the war, the A4s had to run significantly above 90 mph (140 km/h) just to keep schedule on trains such as the Silver Jubilee and The Coronation, with the engines reaching 100 mph on many occasions. Mallard covered almost one and a half million miles (2.4 million km) before it was retired in 1963.

The locomotive is 70 ft (21 m) long and weighs 165 long tons (168 tonnes, 369,600 lbs), including the tender. It is painted in LNER garter blue with red wheels and steel rims.

Mallard is now part of the National Collection and preserved at the National Railway Museum in York (read more).

Canada - Ontario - Toronto Street Car

Based on the original painted artwork "Evolution of the Toronto Streetcar".

Sent by Shelley from Toronto, Canada.

The Toronto streetcar system is a network of eleven streetcar routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It is the third busiest light-rail system in North America. The network is concentrated primarily in Downtown Toronto and in proximity to the city's waterfront. Much of the streetcar route network dates from the second half of the 19th century. Three streetcar routes operate in their own right-of-way, one in a partial right-of-way, and six operate on street trackage shared with vehicular traffic with streetcars stopping on demand at frequent stops like buses. Since 2019, the network has used low-floor streetcars, making it fully accessible.

Toronto's streetcars provide most of the downtown core's surface transit service. Four of the TTC's five most heavily used surface routes are streetcar routes. In 2024, the system had a ridership of 79,295,000, or about 248,300 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2025 (read more).

Russia - VAZ-2101 or Lada 2101 or "Zhiguli"

VAZ-2101 or Lada 2101 or "Zhiguli"

Sent by Tiina from Seindjoki, Finland.

The VAZ-2101 "Zhiguli", commonly nicknamed "Kopeyka" (for the smallest Soviet coin, 1/100 of the Russian ruble), is a compact 4-door sedan or wagon, called small class, passenger car, model 1 in Soviet classification, and produced by the Soviet manufacturer AvtoVAZ, introduced in 1970 as the company's first product.

The car is a licence-built version of the Fiat 124, that was heavily modified and tailored for the rough climate and road conditions across the Soviet Union and much of the Eastern Bloc countries. Subsequently, it was widely, and successfully exported to the West under the Lada brand, for over two decades. The station wagon version (correspondingly based on the Fiat 124 Familiare) was known as the VAZ-2102 (read more).

Taiwan - Taiwan Railway R200

Taiwan Railway R200 diesel-electric locomotive.

Sent by Amy Lee from Taiwan.

The R200 are a series of diesel-electric locomotives built by Stadler Rail for use by the Taiwan Railways Administration, starting in 2023.

In 2015, the Taiwan Railways proposed an overall vehicle purchase and replacement plan (spanning from 2015-2024) and proposed the purchase of 102 locomotives, of which 34 were diesel-electric locomotives. After the electrification of the railway system around the island in 2020, passenger trains on the operating routes will rarely use diesel locomotives for traction, and service will be adjusted to use diesels exclusively for freight, emergency rescue, national defense and military needs.

The 165 million euro contract for the locomotives was signed in October 2019; the locomotives are the first major order for Swiss company Stadler from the Pacific region. They are to be built at the firm’s plant in Valencia, Spain. The first two locomotives in the series, numbered R201 and R202, were previewed at Changhua Locomotive Depot in July 2023, expected to be put into revenue service at the end of 2023 (read more).

Germany - Brandenburg - Commercial Vehicle Show 2023

IFA W 50 L and L 60 for the 6th Commercial Vehicle Show in Horstwalde on 13th August 2023.

Sent by Ulrich from Bonn, Germany.

The IFA W 50 is a medium-duty truck built by the East German IFA conglomerate at their Ludwigsfelde plant from 1965 until 1990. A total of about 572,000 were built in Ludwigsfelde, with an unknown additional number of special-use vehicles assembled at other plants. It was meant to be succeeded by the IFA L 60 but outlived it by several months. IFA ended all truck production on 17 December 1990, following the reunification of Germany (read more).

Germany - Saxony - Leipzig Steam Cultural Tour Train

Steam locomotive 52 8079-7 of Leipzig Steam Cultural Tour near Staßfurt.

Sent by Hanko fro Schmelz, Germany. Thanks for the stamp of train on the postcard.

No matter whether you love nature; like to explore buildings of past centuries; want to go hiking, cycling, horseback riding; or just want to be pampered; there will be something for everyone. All visitors planning to explore the landscape of Saxony's castle and heathland region by car, railway or in a different way, will have the chance to make their own discoveries. The warmth of Saxons and the exemplary Saxon cosiness along with the delicious regional cuisine will give your stay a really special atmosphere.

In the heart of Saxony's castle and heathland region, you will find the woodlands of Dahlen Heath as well as Wermsdorf Forest offering extensive hiking and biking trails. And where, other than in the heart of Saxony's stunning castle and heathland region, could be a better place for the Saxon STEAM RAILWAY ROUTE to start? You could start your journey through the Free State by taking a ride on the Döllnitzbahn railway. The Döllnitzbahn railway will take you from the town of Oschatz, where restored historic buildings and alleys keep the pulse of a former epoch, out into the country. Passing rivers, meadows and fields, you will reach districts of the commune of Sornzig-Ablass in addition to the commune of Naundorf and the town of Mügeln (read more).

Sri Lanka - Stream Train / Viceroy Special

SRI LANKA (CEYLON)
Steam Train / Upcountry

Sent by my friend Ravindra from Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka.

The Viceroy Special is a special passenger train service operated by Lakindu & Thathsara (Ceylon) Ltd.^[ Powered by the sole steam locomotive kept in operation in Sri Lanka, it is operated as a private train on all railway lines in the island. The 75-year-old luxury train has two air-conditioned observation saloons and a restaurant car (read more).

USA - Massachusetts - Lowell National Historical Park

Lowell National Historical Park

Lowell, Massachusetts

The introduction of horse drawn trolleys in 1863 and later electrified cars in 1889, gave residents the ability to commute to work, the freedom to choose where to live and the opportunity to travel outside the city. Lowell National Historical Park reintroduced the Trolley in 1984 linking the historic downtown mills and the canal transportation system.

Sent by Sue Ellen from Boston in Massachusetts, USA.

Lowell National Historical Park is a National Historical Park of the United States located in Lowell, Massachusetts. Established in 1978 a few years after Lowell Heritage State Park, it is operated by the National Park Service and comprises a group of different sites in and around the city of Lowell related to the era of textile manufacturing in the city during the Industrial Revolution. In 2019, the park was included as Massachusetts' representative in the America the Beautiful Quarters series (read more).

Thailand - Bangkok - Tuk Tuk

Tuk Tuk - Three wheels opened-air taxi, Bangkok, Thailand.

Sent by myself to my wife during my trip to Bangkok (15th - 18th January 2025).

When thinking about Thailand, one of the first images that often comes to mind is the vibrant aside from the beautiful beaches are the bustling streets filled with the sounds and sights of tuk tuks weaving through traffic. These three-wheeled vehicles are more than just a mode of transportation; they are a symbol of Thai culture similar to their magnificent temples and other cultural attractions and are also considered as an iconic part of the country’s urban landscape. With their distinct design and the unique “tuk-tuk-tuk” sound of their engines, tuk tuks offer a quintessential Thai experience that combines practicality, tradition, and a touch of adventure (read further).

Vietnam - The Transporters

 

I bought this postcard during my trip to Hanoi (10th - 12th January 2025) and got the stamps cancelled at the Central Post Office in Hanoi.

Malaysia Airlines

Collaboration of Malaysia Airlines and CIMB.

Signed by Captain Manshah and First Officer Fadlee Md Nor and the crews for the MH485 (Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Velana International Airport in Male, Maldives) on Sunday, 8th December 2024.

Road Trains

Roadtrains Australia

Sent by Jenny, a postcrosser from Victoria, Australia.

Faroe Islands - Atlantic Airways

 

Atlantic Airways, Vágar. 

Sent by Regin, TravBuddy friend from Faroe Islands. 

Atlantic Airways (OMX: FO-AIR) is the national airline of the Faroe Islands, operating domestic helicopter services and international passenger services as well as search and rescue responsibilities from its base at Vágar Airport, on the Faroese island of Vágar.Most of its pilots are members of the Faroese Pilot Association.(Source)

Japan - All Nippon Airways

B787 of All Nippon Airways.

Sent by Taroh, a postcrosser from Japan.

This is from Wikipedia : All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. (全日本空輸株式会社 Zen Nippon Kūyu Kabushiki-gaisha^?, TYO: 9202, LSE: ANA), also known as Zennikkū (全日空^?) or ANA, is one of the largest airlines in Japan. It is headquartered at the Shiodome City Center in theShiodome area in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It operates services to 49 destinations in Japan and 31 international routes and employed over 14,000 employees as of May 2009. In May 2010, ANA's total passenger traffic is up year-on-year by 7.8%, and its international services grow by 22% to 2.07 million passengers in the first five months of 2010. ANA's main international hubs are at Narita International Airport outside Tokyo and Kansai International Airport outside Osaka. Its main domestic hubs are at Tokyo International Airport (Haneda), Osaka International Airport Itami, Chūbu Centrair International Airport (near Nagoya), and New Chitose Airport (near Sapporo). (read further)

Thailand - Bangkok - Royal Barge Anantanakraj

The Royal Barge Anantanakraj with an escorting barge.

Sent by Leela, a postcrosser from Bangkok, Thailand.

This is from Wikipedia : Thailand's Royal Barge Procession (Thai: กระบวนพยุหยาตราชลมารค; RTGS: Krabuan Phayuhayattra Chonlamak) is a ceremony of both religious and royal significance which has been taking place for nearly 700 years. The exquisitely crafted Royal Barges are a blend of craftsmanship and traditional Thai art. The Royal Barge Procession takes place rarely, typically coinciding with only the most significant cultural and religious events. During the reign of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, spanning over 60 years, the Procession has only occurred 16 times.

The Royal Barge Procession, in the present, consists of 52 barges: 51 historical Barges, and the Royal Barge, the Narai Song Suban, which King Rama IX built in 1994. It is the only Barge built during King Bhumibol's reign. These barges are manned by 2,082 oarsmen. The Procession proceeds down the Chao Phraya River, from the Wasukri Royal Landing Place in Khet Dusit, Bangkok, passes the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the Grand Palace, Wat Po (Thai: วัดโพธิ์), and finally arrives at Wat Arun (Thai: วัดอรุณ, Temple of the Dawn).

Germany - Brockenbahn

Brockenbahn or Brocken Railway.

Sent by Helga, a postcrosser from Apen, Germany.

This is from Wikipedia : The Brocken Railway (German: Brockenbahn) is one of three tourist metre gauge railways which together with the Harz Railway and Selke Valley Railway form the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways railway network in the Harz mountain range of Germany.

It runs from the station of Drei Annen Hohne at 542 m (1,778 ft), where it joins the Harz Railway, via Schierke and the Bode River valley to the summit of the Brocken, the highest mountain of the Harz at 1,141 m (3,743 ft) and part of the Harz National Park.

The Brocken Railway leaves Drei Annen Hohne station (542 m above NN), like the Harz Railway, in a southwesterly direction. Before exiting the station, however, it crosses the road to Schierke/Elend and then enters the Harz National Park. It then heads west to Schierke station (688 m), where until 1963, there was a siding to Knaupsholz granite quarry at about the half-way point. The line then runs for some distance along the valley of the Cold Bode, which lies south and far below the line. Next the 971 m high mountain, the Wurmberg, appears on the left, and the train crosses the Brocken Road for the first time.

After a tight left hand bend before the Eckerloch Bridge and another right-hander, the line reaches Goetheweg station (956 m), which is now only used as a locomotive depot. Then the line runs directly to the Brocken, encircling it in a spiral 1 ½ times, during which it crosses the Brocken Road again, and then finally ends after 18.9 km at Brocken station (1,125 m).

As early as 1869 there was a design for the construction of a railway to the Brocken, but it was turned down. A resubmission in 1895 succeeded, however, and, on 30 May 1896, the construction permit was issued once Prince Otto of Stolberg-Wernigerode had allocated the requisite land. The first section of the Brocken Railway, from Drei Annen Hohne to Schierke, was opened on 20 June 1898 and construction work for the remaining section up to the Brocken was begun on 4 October 1898. Initially services to the Brocken only ran between 30 April to 15 October; during the winter trains terminated at Schierke station. At the end of the Second World War significant damage occurred to the track, mainly through bombs and grenades, in the course of fighting in the Harz, which had been declared a fortress. The section to the Brocken was only reopened, therefore, in 1949.


The operator of the Brocken Railway until 5 August 1948 was the Nordhausen-Wernigerode Railway Company (NWE), after which it belonged from the Association of Publicly-Owned Companies (VVB), part of Saxony-Anhalt's transport services, and, from 11 April 1949 to the Deutsche Reichsbahn in East Germany. Only after the German winter sports championships in 1950, which took place in Schierke, did winter trains run up to the Brocken summit. A railway station at Eckerloch was also built for the championships which was closed again after they had ended. The location of the former sidings at Eckerloch station can still be easily seen.

Goods trains continued to work the Brocken Railway right up to 1987, although since the construction of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961 the Brocken and its station had been part of the out-of-bounds area and thus not accessible to the public. Up to that time the trains transported coal, oil and building materials up the mountain for the East German Border Troops and Soviet soldiers who were stationed there.

Passengers services on the Brocken Railway continued to run from Drei Annen Hohne to Schierke; usually only two pairs of passenger train pairs ran each day; however they could only be used with a special pass, because Schierke lay in the border zone with West Germany.

After German reunification the continued operation of the Brocken Railway was initially called into question, however united efforts by railway enthusiasts and politicians under the overall control of the then state Minister for the Economy, Horst Rehberger, helped to give the Brocken Railway a second chance. The German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) were also involived, because the Brocken Railway was needed to haul away the obsolete, military facilities on the Brocken. On 15 September 1991, after being renovated, the Brocken Railway was ceremoniously opened to the public with two steam-hauled trains. The trains were headed by locomotive no. 99 5903, a Mallet locomotive, which had been procured by the NWE in 1897/98, and locomotive no. 99 6001, a prototype developed in 1939 by the firm of Krupp.
Since the privatisation of the narrow gauge lines in the Harz in 1993 the Brocken Railway has been operated by the Harz Narrow Gauges Railways (HSB).

The steam trains on the Brocken Railway have become popular with thousands of tourists every year, offering convenient access to the top of the Brocken.

Up to six pairs of trains run daily to the top of the Brocken during the winter. Of those, four start and end in Wernigerode. During the summer, services are increased to eleven pairs of trains daily. The fastest train takes 49 minutes to reach the summit. The Brocken Railway is the only HSB line whose regular services are exclusively hauled by steam locomotives (specials are also hauled by diesel railbuses and diesel engines of Class 199.8, the latter for clearing snow).

Vietnam - Mekong Delta - Bicycle-Pulled

Bicycle-pulled - a popular vehicle in the Mekong Delta.

Sent by Lyra, a postcrosser from Vietnam.

USA - Pennsylvania - Steamtown National Historic Site

STEAMTOWN NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, Scranton, PA.
Engine #2317 shown here, a 4-6-2 type was formerly owned by the Canadian Pacific R.R. and once pulled intercontinental expresses in Canada. Built in 1923 and based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, this engine and tender weighing nearly 300 tons now thrills visitors with excursions through the lush mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania.

Sent by Dan, a postcrosser from Pennsylvania, USA.

This is from Wikipedia : Steamtown National Historic Site (NHS) is a railroad museum and heritage railroad located on 62.48 acres (25.3 ha) in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W). The museum is built around a working replica turntable and a roundhouse that is largely a replica but which includes two authentic sections built in 1902 and 1937. All the buildings on the site are listed with the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Yard-Dickson Manufacturing Co. Site.

Most of the steam locomotives and other railroad equipment at Steamtown NHS were originally collected by F. Nelson Blount, a millionaire seafood processor from New England. In 1964, Blount established a non-profit organization, the Steamtown Foundation, to operate Steamtown, USA, a steam railroad museum and excursion business in Bellows Falls, Vermont. In 1984, the foundation moved Steamtown to Scranton, conceived of as urban redevelopment and funded in part by the city. But the museum failed to attract the expected 200,000 to 400,000 annual visitors, and within two years was facing bankruptcy.

In 1986, the U.S. House of Representatives, at the urging of Scranton native Representative Joseph M. McDade, approved $8 million to begin turning the museum into a National Historic Site. The idea was derided by those who called the collection second-rate, the site's historical significance questionable, and the public funding no more than pork-barrel politics. But proponents said the site and the collection were ideal representations of American industrial history. By 1995, the National Park Service (NPS) had acquired Steamtown, USA and improved its facilities at a total cost of $66 million.

Steamtown National Historic Site has since sold a few pieces from the Blount collection, and added a few others deemed of greater historical significance to the region. Low visitor attendance and the need of costly asbestos removal from many pieces of the collection have spurred discussion about privatizing Steamtown.

Bicycle (2)

Sent by Marianneke, a postcrosser from Amsterdam, Holland.