Mail by Train 1 & 2

Today's post, 18 November 2021, showcases a pair of 500-piece jigsaws marketed in a single box, by Falcon.

Mail by Train 1 (top) shows a train in a station with many passengers and station staff mingling on the platform. Numerous types of luggage and mailbags are being loaded and unloaded to and from the train, adding a little frenzied emotion to the scene. Clerestory coaches are clearly visible behind the mail train. Both engine and coaches are presented in GWR (Great Western Railway) liveries. However I cannot identify the engine in the picture - some artistic licence has been used, I think. What I can say with confidence, however, is that the people in the picture are painted superbly well; they are probably the best I have seen in jigsaw paintings. A little puzzling is the train in the background that appears to be steaming in on the same line as the stationary mail train. Mail Train 2 shows the same train picking up mailbags from a raised trackside platform, as is passes at a pre-determined speed. A senior official checks the time. Overhead an express passenger train is traversing a magnificent viaduct, at speed. In the immediate background a porter is handling a trolley loaded with post bags; behind him is a signal box. To the side of the signal box, is a stationary locomotive that could be a 4-6-0 mixed traffic type. In the air, a bi-plane adds extra interest. Once again I must commend the artist - Marcello Corti - on his skill at representing human interest. Another of Corti's jigsaws, featuring a similar, prominent viaduct, can be found in the previous post of 17 March 2020.