STAMP OF ESTONIA 1996, 2000 - Estonian narrow-gauge railway centenary.(4 stamps)

These stamps continus to be valid for postage until 1 January 2014.

Postage stamps with dual nominal value in EEK and EUR are still valid, and all postage stamps with a face value of EEK can be used by converting with the official exchange rate of Bank of Estonia 1 euro = 15.6466 kroon. Postage stamps with dual value (EEK/EUR) are valid indefinitely; postage stamps with a face value of EEK are valid until the of January 2014.

The three stamps in the issue depict various historical vehicles of the Estonian narrow-gauge railway Class GK steam locomotive. Class GK locomotives were built on the basis of former American locos made for the narrow-gauge logistics networks of a Russian naval fortress centred in Tallinn prior to World War 1. Designed by Georgi Dementjev, this light but highly efficient locomotive was built at the Mõisaküla railway plant where it was fitted with a Main Railway Plant boiler. Only four of an intended series of twelve could be completed, and the first of them was put into operation in summer 1939. The locomotive together with the tender was 11.8 m long and weighed 36.8 tons. It had 150 hp capacity and had a maximum speed of 75 kmph.

DeM 1 motor wagon. The diesel-powered Class DeM motor wagons, popularly known as the Mulgi Ekspress, were designed for shuttle passenger service on the Tallinn-Viljandi and Viljandi-Pärnu lines. A total of four such wagons were built. Drawings for the wagon were made at the State Railway transportation department. Class DeM motor wagons were 14.7 meters long and weighed 21.5 tons. They had a seating capacity of 40, 125 hp engines, and an operating speed of 60 kmph.

Calss Sk steam locomotives were designed for heavy-duty freight traffic. The design was made in Germany, and the builder was Fr. Krull’s of Tallinn. The first Sk locomotive was put into service in 1931. Sk locomotives had a capacity of 329 hp and weighed 53 tons. They were 13.25 m long and had an operating speed of 60 kmph. Most of the Class Sk locomotives were taken away to Russia during the war, but five of them continued to serve on narrow-gauge railways in Estonia untill 1962 when they were superseded by diesel-powered locos.

The narrow-gauge railway from Viljandi to Tallinn was built in 1898-1900. The first train from Viljandi arrived in Tallinn on June 18, 1900, creating a railway link between the capital and southern Estonia. The train was pulled by a Belgian-built 0-3-0 type steam engine, which had a maximum speed of 20 kph. Such engines were used in Estonia until 1917.

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