1902 Card to USA from American missionary in Manchuria posted on C.E.R. POSTAL WAGON No. 265 (HARBIN-PORT ARTHUR) (train ‘4’) 2 VII 02 cancelling 4k, interesting contents: “This is a strange country…cossack soldiers at the stations…chinamen in the opium fields (poppy)…heat and cholera everywhere” Note: The Harbin-Port Arthur line, with sea connections to America via Japan, was opened to traffic in February 1902 (Image)

1902 Viewcard to St Petersburg franked 3k from Hailar (Manchuria) cancelled on POSTAL WAGON no. 262 (Train ‘2’) (HARBIN-MANCHULI) plus viewcard to Paris franked 3k + 1k from Bukhedu (Manchuria) cancelled on POSTAL WAGON no. 261 (Train ‘1’) (MANCHULI-HARBIN) 23 VII 06 Note: This type of circular canceller was used by the ambulant post offices of the CER from its inception in November 1901 and remained in use until 1904-07 (Image)

1902 Viewcard to St Petersburg written from STATION LYAOYANG (CER Line 265/266) franked 1k + 2k tied by circular POSTAL WAGON No. 265 (HARBIN-PORT-ARTHUR)(serial ‘4’) 16 XI 1902, transferred 18 XI 1902 to POSTAL WAGON No. 262 (2) (HARBIN-MANCHULI) (Image)

1902 Japanese postcard to Taganrog franked 5k with dateline 24 X 1902 (new style) tied by POSTAL WAGON No. 264 (1) 11 X 1902 (old style), this being the earliest item of mail carried on Line 264 (VLADIVOSTOK-HARBIN) which opened in February 1902 (Image)

1902 3k stationery card uprated 1k to make overseas rate used to inform Netherlands Consulate in Kobe, Japan, of meeting with Director of Russo-Chinese Bank in Vladivostok, written in Dutch “In train at Nikolsk” 6/19 Nov. 1902, cancelled next day on POSTAL WAGON No. 264 (VLADIVOSTOK-HARBIN)(train ‘3’) 7 XI 1902 Note: The Vladivostok-Harbin line was opened to traffic in February 1902. The section from Vladivostok to Nikolsk was on Russian soil (Image)

1902 Stampless viewcard to St Petersburg cancelled on TPO POSTAL WAGON No. 264 (VLADIVOSTOK-HARBIN) (2) 21 XI 1902, oval tax mark (30 X 21 mm) applied DOPLATIT (To Pay)/264/POSTAL WAGON/264 with ‘6k’ inserted by hand, denoting standard tax of twice normal postage, delivery took ca 7 weeks caused by military congestion of railway during Russian occupation of Manchuria (Image)

1903 Registered cover to Bukhara franked ‘Kitai’ 2k green pair + two 10k cancelled Shanghai Type I 9 1 03 cds’s, transit Port Arthur Types 1 & 2, CER POSTAL WAGON No. 266 (PORT ARTHUR-HARBIN) (8) & POSTAL WAGON No. 262 (HARBIN-MANCHULI) (7) 6 1 03, arrival datestamps of 9 1 03 (Old Style) (Image)

1903 Picture postcard from Station Pogranichnaya to St. Petersburg with 3k Arms tied by “POSTAL WAGON No. 264 / 3” 17.2.03 cds (Vladivostok-Harbin), arrival cds, fine (Image)

1903 Postcard from American missionary travelling through Manchuria writing back to colleague in Nanking (China) dateline 13 June 1903, pair ‘Kitai’ 2k cancelled MANCHULI/1/RAILWAY POSTAL BRANCH 31 V 1903 (Subtype 1B of Casey), transit POSTAL WAGON No. 265 (2) (HARBIN-PORT ARTHUR) 3 VI 03, PORT ARTHUR 5 VI 03, Chinese P.O. CHEFOO 19 Jun. 03, Shanghai 22 VI 03, received Nanking 24 Jun 03, central crease clear of adhesives (Image)

1903 Siberian viewcards (2) both posted on POSTAL WAGON No. 266 (PORT ARTHUR-HARBIN), one franked 4k to Belgium posted on train ‘3’ 18 IX 1903, other franked 1k + 3k to Vienna posted on train ‘5’ 27 XI 1903, fine pair (Image)

1903 Viewcard franked 1k pair on front cancelled in Warsaw and sent to Japan via Odessa presumably for transmission by sea but ended up on C.E.R. Line 261 (MANCHULI-HARBIN) where tax markings applied in the form of an encircled ‘T’ and manuscript ‘2’ inserted in oval DOPLATIT/261/POSTAL WAGON, Japanese tax handstamp applied on arrival in red, unusual (Image)

1903/04 Postcards (2), earlier one to France franked 1k block of 4 cancelled PW No. 266 (2) PORT-ARTHUR-HARBIN 16 IX 1903 with PW No. 260 (2) MANCHULI-CHITA applied on Trans-Siberian Railway 4 days later, 1904 card written from Mukden, cancelled on PW no.265 (6) HARBIN-PORT-ARTHUR 7 V 1904, , both fine with average to good strikes (Image)

1903 Siberian viewcards to Belgium (17 IX) and England (22 X), latter overpaid 3k, showing 2 types of circular canceller in concurrent use at MANCHULI STATION, differing in position of side numerals and spacing of inscription, both reading MANCHULI/1/RAILWAY POSTAL BRANCH, recent discovery, published illustrations showing a fictitious compound of the 2 types (Image)

1903 Viewcard depicting Boxer rebels sent to Belgium franked 4k (defective) tied POSTAL WAGON No. 265 (3) 18 IX 1903, Moscow transit and Bruges arrival cds’s alongside, presumably an error as it travelled in the wrong direction and should have been T.P.O 266, fair strike (Image)

1903 Opened out cover to England with “KITAI” 3k and 7k tied by Chefoo 5.10.03 cds (Type 1, New Style), reverse with C.E.R. Line 262 (Harbin-Manchuli) 26.9.03 (Old Style) cds, London arrival before being forwarded to Glasgow, missing backflap and other minor faults, an interesting usage showing the usage of the Gregorian calendar for Western-bound mail and the retention of the Julian calendar on the C.E.R. (Image)

1903 Picture postcard of Cossacks to Belgium sent from Manchuli Railway Station with 1k and 3k Arms tied by “MAN’CHZHURIYA / 1 / RAILWAY POSTAL BRANCH” 26.10.03 cds, transferred the same day to “POSTAL WAGON No.260” (Manchuli-Chita), with St. Petersburg and Brussels cds, very fine, plus picture postcard of the market by the Station on the Siberian side (Image)

1903 7k Stationery envelope to Dalny posted on POSTAL WAGON no. 266 (2) 16 XI 1903, presumably from Port Arthur, addressed to “Gospodin Stepanov at the Customs, Passenger Hall, Station Dalny, CER”, on reverse receipt mark of No. 17 Field Post Office 17 XI 1903, fair strike only and overall soiling Note. Use of the FPO canceller as an arrival mark instead of that of Dalny Railway Station suggests the possibility that No. 17 FPO was located at the station and/or Dalny Railway Station had not been issued with its own canceller (Image)

1903 Attractive vignette postcard of Vladivostok franked 4k to London cancelled by CER TPO POSTAL WAGON No. 264 (7) (VLADIVOSTOK-HARBIN) 25 XI 1903, fine (Image)

1904 3k Stationery card uprated 1k to make foreign rate to Germany, dateline “Charbin 22/1 1904”, next day put on TPO going in wrong (southerly) direction and cancelled thereon, transferred from POSTAL WAGON No. 265 (2) (HARBIN-PORT ARTHUR) 10 1 1904 same day to POSTAL WAGON No. 262 (8) (HARBIN-MANCHULI), fine and unusual (Image)

1904 Irkutsk viewcard with dateline “Mukden 23 1 1904”, franked 2k pair to pay 4k rate to Germany cancelled the next day POSTAL WAGON No. 265 (3) 11 1 1904 cds, interesting contents (Image)

1904 Cover to France franked 10k (defective) and placed on POSTAL WAGON No. 265 (2) (HARBIN-PORT ARTHUR) 12 1 04, proceeded in the wrong direction and transferred same day to POSTAL WAGON No. 266 (1) (PORT ARTHUR-HARBIN), transferred 14 1 04 to Line 262 (HARBIN-MANCHULI) to connect with Trans-Siberian Railway but canceller of POSTAL WAGON No. 261 (MANCHULI-HARBIN) applied in error NOTE: Postal wagons of the CER carried a pair of numbered date-stamps to give a distinctive cancellation for each direction of the Line, but not infrequently the wrong one was applied (Image)

1904 Postcard to Wales franked Korea 6ch tied by Chemulpo cds, taken by ship to Vladivostok or Port Arthur to connect with C.E.R., transit mark applied POSTAL WAGON No. 261 (4) 26 1 1904 (year inverted), (fair strike only) PW No. 261 ran eastwards from Manchuli to Harbin (the wrong direction for westbound mail), yet another example of the postal clerks neglecting to change the cancellers, card lightly soiled (Image)

1904 Overweight registered cover to STARAYA BUKHARA (Central Asia) from Shanghai (8 II 04), sent via CER Postal Wagon No. 266 (PORT ARTHUR-HARBIN) and POSTAL WAGON No. 262 (HARBIN-MANCHULI), thence by Trans-Siberian Railway including POSTAL WAGON No. 198 (IRKUTSK-KRASNOYARSK), arriving 5 III 04 Note: Opening of the CER to commercial traffic in February 1902 enabled Russian-bound mail from China to take the overland route via Manchuria and Siberia and avoid the long sea journey to Odessa (Image)

1904 Registered cover to Kazan, readressed to Nizhnii-Novgorod, franked on the reverse with 7k and 14k Arms tied by “MANCHULI / 1 / RAILWAY POSTAL BRANCH” 30.3.04 cds, with “POSTAL WAGON No.261” transit cds, obverse with “ALEKSANDROVSKII FACTORY” registration label erased and corrected by hand, minor soiling, a rare emergency registration label. Note: Possibly because of the outbreak of war, the Manchuli Railway Station P.O. ran out of registration labels, so emergency supplies from the Aleksandrovskii Factory in the Transbailkal Province in SIberia were altered by hand. The Railway Station at that time was administered by the 10th Railway Postal District, based in Siberia, and did not come under the control of Harbin until 1915 (Image)

1904 Stampless cover to Reval with Dalyny Railway Station “DALNII KVANTUN OBLAST / 1 / RAILWAY POSTAL BRANCH” 9.4.04 cds, with ms notation on reverse “From the active Manchurian Army – Field Headquaters / Colonel (?) Ya. Sulalatko / Town Lyaoyang” in lieu of military free-frank cachet, Reval bs, fine. Note: This is the only known example to date of the Dalny Railway Station cancel applied before the evacuation of the city at the end of May 1904. The office was subsequently relocated at Kunchuling, and continued to use the old Dalny Railway Station cancel. (Image)