One of the rare railway stamps that will go on display at the Howrah and Sealdah exhibitions later this month. Picture by Pabitra Das

Calcutta, Aug. 2: The world’s first railway stamp, the first stamp of Indian Railway and thousands of other such rare stamps will be exhibited at Howrah and Sealdah later this month as part of the celebrations of the railways’ 150 years.

Md Mujibullah, heritage assistant of Eastern Railway, will be tracing the history of our country’s lifeline through 12,000 stamps in his collection.

Having earned international acclaim for his collection of railway philately — quite a few awards are under his belt — Mujibullah is ecstatic about the exhibitions to be held in the city. “I have taken part in several exhibitions, but the ones to be held at Sealdah and Howrah are very special for me,” Mujibullah said at his Park Street residence.

The exhibition at Sealdah opens on August 9 and continues for five days. The one at Howrah will run from August 16 to 21.

Mujibullah joined the railways in 1988 in a sports quota after playing for football clubs such as East Bengal and Abahani Krira Chakra of Bangladesh. “I played with Majid Baskar and Jamshed Nassiri in East Bengal,” Mujibullah recalled. His father, Md Wahidullah, was a member of India’s hockey squad in the 1960 Rome Olympics.

Although he has been collecting stamps since childhood, his craze for railway stamps began eight years ago. The first stamp on the railways, published in 1866 from New Bronwitch, Canada, forms part of his collection. It has a picture of an engine on it.

Another prized item in his album is Indian Railways’ first stamp. Published in 1937, it has a picture of King George VI and a mail train on it.

“The postal department, however, started railway cancellations in 1860,” Mujibullah said.

The 12,000 stamps will be displayed on 60 philatelic boards. Visitors will get to see the first railway carriages drawn by horses and asses; the first locomotive, steam, diesel and electric engines; railway signals; maps and tracks. There will also be stamps showing the first railway mail service cancellation.

Mujibullah, who won the first prize at Aripex 2004 in the USA and a special prize on write-ups awarded by the Arizona Postal History Educational Group in 2002, will take part in international shows later this year.