Stamp and train enthusiasts packed a theater at Cincinnati's Union Terminal Thursday to celebrate the city's iconic train station being honored on a U.S. postage stamp.
People lined up to be among the first to purchase the new commemorative Railroad Stations Forever stamps featuring Union Terminal among five historic train stations. Cincinnati was selected to host the official unveiling and dedication ceremony for the series.
After purchasing the stamps, postal employees were on hand to apply the official First Day of Issue postmark to envelopes, postcards and other memorabilia. Some people delighted in applying the postmark themselves.
Jay Joyce of Downtown watched as a postal employee carefully applied the First Day of Issue postmark to a set of postcards. He's recently gotten back into stamp collecting after a break of several years.
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"Stamps chronicle history; stamps tell stories," he says. "These most recent stamps tell the stories of a lot of historic train stations and the fact that our Art Deco station can be memorialized this way, I believe, is just good for preserving the history of Cincinnati."
Carol Schleppi and her husband came down from Dayton for the event.
"We love the train system. We've actually taken trains out of here," she says. "This is a special event for (my husband) so we brought him down, and I just bought some stamps and we're anxious to see the ceremony.
She adds that while they don't collect stamps, her husband collects pins, and one was created for this event featuring Union Terminal.
The recent dangerous trail derailments in Ohio didn't go unrecognized during the ceremony.
"I need to remark on the fact that we are in a train-related event here in the incredible state of Ohio, which has suffered two deeply concerning crashes in East Palestine and in Springfield," said USPS Board of Governors member Dan Tangherlini, deviating from his prepared remarks.
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"These events remind us of the need to keep safety front and center in the vast complicated logistical networks that we rely on to maintain our society. I just want to reassure you that this is a primary concern of the Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service, the Postmaster General, and all our employees in providing the logistical services that we provide to every American every day," he said
Commemorative stamps are available until they run out, usually about a year from when they're released. The Post Office printed 30 million train stamps. The Railroad Stations Forever stamps come in a sheet of 25, four of each of the five stamps.
The other four locations are: Tamaqua Station in Pennsylvania; Point of Rocks Station in Maryland; Main Street Station in Richmond, Virginia; and Santa Fe Station in San Bernardino, California.
Four of the five locations still offer train service. All are on the National Register of Historic Places.
