RAILWAY PUTS STAMP ON HI-TECH PROJECT

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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Keighley’s steam railway has entered a new stamping ground.

The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway (K&WVR) is to help Royal Mail launch the world’s first “intelligent stamp”.

The stamp — the first in a series commemorating classic British locomotives — works with image recognition technology, which when activated by a smartphone, iPhone, or Android platforms provides exclusive online content created by Royal Mail. It is now undergoing testing prior to the launch.

Included is footage of actor Bernard Cribbins — who starred as Mr Perks in the classic 1970 film version of The Railway Children, shot on the K&WVR — reading WH Auden’s poem The Night Mail.

He is seen sat inside The Old Gentleman’s Saloon, the carriage which featured in the film.

The saloon is normally based on the five-mile Worth Valley line but is currently starring in an acclaimed stage version of Edith Nesbit’s tale at the former Eurostar terminal in London’s Waterloo Station.

Mr Cribbins said: “WH Auden wrote The Night Mail in 1936 for the Post Office’s own blockbuster film of the same name, which has for years remained in the hearts and minds of many. I’m excited to be bringing it to a brand new audience and helping take Royal Mail stamps into a new era by using state-of-the-art interactive technology.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “Through ‘intelligent stamp’ technology our stamps will open up a whole new world of information, interest and fun to collectors and the millions of people who will receive them on letters in the coming months.”

Chris Lawson, owner of The Old Gentleman’s Saloon, told the Keighley News: “I’m delighted that people sampling Royal Mail’s new technology will be able to see Bernard Cribbins reunited with this wonderful carriage, forever associated with The Railway Children and the Worth Valley Railway.

“After such an overwhelming public response to the play at Waterloo it was a wonderful experience to see Bernard Cribbins back with the vehicle, clearly relishing reading Auden’s famous poem to promote these pioneering stamps.”

The first-class version of the stamps shows the last steam engine to be built for British Railways, 9F Class 2-10-0 Evening Star, which operated on the K&WVR for part of the 1970s.

[Lounge Lizard]

such a positive story makes a change from news of all the arrests a few miles away in Bradford on Saturday.