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Truly A Railroad First Day Cover:

This for me was a highlight of AmeriStamp Expo 2000 in Oregon: I found it in a $1 box!

It's got a Railway Post Office cancel (RPO) on the first day of issue for Sc. 922, the 75th Anniversary of the Transcontinental Railway, plus a printed cachet. I'm not sure how to translate the RPO cancel: It looks like "Omaha & Ogden E.D." Omaha, Nebraska, and Ogden, Utah, were two of the first day cities. (San Francisco was the third.) The 2000 U.S. Scott First Day Cover Catalogue & Checklist prices one of those cities at $8.50, but no price is given for an "unofficial" city cancel, much less an RPO.

To be honest, there's a tear from the flap down and a bit of paper sliver sticking out to the left of the cachet, but who cares? I'm very pleased with my acquisition.

Souvenir of an Education Trip:

In April of 1987, I finished my Bachelor's degree in Television-Radio at Syracuse University. This wouldn't be especially notable, except for the fact that I was Class of '75 :)

After taking my final final exam on a special trip to Syracuse, I had some time to kill before my flight back to New Jersey, so I went to the Erie Canal Museum in downtown Syracuse, located, appropriately enough, on Erie Boulevard (which had once been the canal).

While browsing in the gift shop, I spotted some 8.5" x 11" handbills - heavy paper with what appears to be a woodcut of a canal boat and the dates of operation for the Canal. Knowing that the Canal Boat coil (Sc. 2257) had just been issued, I picked up a few of these posters, and headed for the airport.

That's why I say it's important for a "Weird Stuff" FDC collector to keep the U.S. stamp schedule in his head!

I'm glad I was able to make this souvenir of my trip to Syracuse, because you know what difference obtaining my B.S. has made in my life? Practically none.

Lloyd A. de Vries
©2000 de Vries Philatelic Media