IRFCA Auction!!

Auction is now closed!
Auction closes on Oct. 1, 2006! Bid before 11:59pm on Sunday!

On the occasion of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway's 125th anniversary, a special commemorative train was run, which carried a philatelic exhibition. Special postal covers were cancelled on board the train. The event was organized by Vikas Singh, rail philatelist and IRFCA member. Vikas has generously offered a (very) limited number of these special covers to be auctioned, with the proceeds to go towards maintenance of the IRFCA server. The first of these auctions is now going on!

This is your chance to own a piece of IR history and also help your favorite railfanning web site, IRFCA! Read on below for the details, and then participate in the auction by bidding for the special cover!!!

The Special Cover: The item to be auctioned is a special postal cover which was carried on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway's 125-year commemorative safari special. The cover bears a special Siliguri cancellation, a 'toy train' cancellation, and a Sukna cancellation. The cover also bears the signatures of the entire eight-member crew of the train. Along with this cover, a photograph of the entire crew with the 'B' class loco will be included for the winning bidder. See the scans below for details of the front and back of the special cover.

Auction Details:

Such a specially cancelled postal cover being extremely rare, the minimum bid starts at INR 1000 (alternatively, USD 25).
Bids must be made by e-mail to auction@irfca.org.
The current highest bid will be announced here, updated every day or so.
The auction will run for 7 days - until Oct. 1 - after which the winner will be announced.
Postage for the auction item is included for delivery within India; for overseas postage, please add INR 250.
The winner must pay by donating the bid amount (including overseas postage if desired) to IRFCA directly by credit card using PayPal.
Only PayPal payments can be accepted!
Auction is now closed!
Payment must be made within 5 days after the auction closes.

Current bid: USD 122.00 (approx. INR 5490) Former high bid: USD 121.00 (approx. INR 5445)

Bid now for your chance to own a piece of IR history!! Auction is now closed!
Auction closes on Oct. 1, 2006! Bid before 11:59pm on Sunday!

The front of the special cover:

The back of the special cover:

Note: Vikas has a few of these covers that are identical except for the placement of the postal cancellations and the signatures. The item sent to the winner will be substantially like the one shown here but may not be completely identical. It will have the cancellations and signatures as described, but they may be placed in slightly different positions.