What’s New; End of the year 2026
October, November, December and January

On 3^rd September 2026 Swiss Post issued this stamp to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Louis Favre (1826 -1879, the Swiss builder and self-taught engineer whose name is inseparably associated with the construction of the Gotthard Tunnel. Born at Chêne-Thônex near Geneva on 28 January 1826, Favre began his working life as a carpenter. He went to the Paris area in 1846, where he attended courses in architecture and developed his engineering knowledge largely through self-study. His subsequent career was remarkable for the breadth of the railway and civil-engineering works in which he became involved.

Working with the railway engineer Jean-Daniel Colladon, Favre undertook work for the Paris–Lyon railway at Charenton between 1846 and 1851, followed by work on the Montbard–Dijon line (1852–1853) and the construction of Vaise station at Lyon (1854). In 1855 he worked on the Augné railway line in the Jura, including a tunnel through marl. Between 1856 and 1858 he was involved in extending the Crédo Tunnel on the Lyon–Geneva railway, and from 1858 to 1860 in the construction of the Grandvaux and La Cornallaz tunnels on the Lausanne–Fribourg line in Switzerland. These projects gave him extensive practical experience of railway construction and, particularly, of tunnelling in difficult geological conditions. Favre’s activities extended beyond railways. including engineering works associated with diverting water from the Vanne to supply Paris.

His greatest undertaking began when he won the competition for the construction of the Gotthard Tunnel, announced in 1871. Favre undertook to complete the approximately 15-kilometre tunnel in eight years, an extraordinarily ambitious undertaking for the period. Work began from the southern side on 13 September 1872 and from the north on 24 October. The excavation encountered severe and unforeseen geological and technical difficulties. Advanced compressed-air systems and rock-drilling equipment were employed to excavate the Alpine rock, representing some of the most advanced tunnelling technology available at the time.

Favre did not live to see the completion of his great work. On 19 July 1879, while inspecting the construction site at Göschenen, he suffered a fatal heart attack inside the tunnel. The final breakthrough took place several months later, and the Gotthard Tunnel was subsequently completed.

The 15-kilometre Gotthard Tunnel, constructed under Favre’s direction between 1872 and 1880 and opened to railway traffic in 1882, continued to carry the main north–south railway traffic for more than 130 years.  In 2016, the much larger 57-kilometre Gotthard Base Tunnel opened considerably lower down through the Alps. This became the principal route for fast passenger and heavy freight trains. However, Favre’s original tunnel and the historic mountain railway line were not abandoned. The Swiss Federal Government says the 1882 tunnel continues to be used for local access and tourist traffic.  In 2025 the old mountain route carried an average of more than 1,500 passengers a day, including tourist services. It also remains available as an alternative route should the Base Tunnel have to close

The Helvetia Philatelic Society 2027 Annual meeting will be held on 13 and 14 March at again at the White House Hotel Worcester. Interesting displays and many bargains to be found in our annual auction – see meetings page.

Werner Gattiker continues his series looking out for varieties! Perhaps it is brave (apologies to Yes Minister) to highlight anything to do with FIFA!

16. 40c Football World Championships 1954 – Large Shadow over Cuba and others.
Zumstein 319.2.01b
S.B.K. 3190 Pf.2
S.G.  unlisted

This stamp offers us no less than three major varieties, plus a number of less important ones. One of the major varieties is the “Large shadow over Cuba” that is quite easily seen, even without a powerful magnifier. It is not so much a clearly outlined extra island, but more a ghostly shadow that extends to the east of Florida and north of Cuba. In passing, the other two major varieties on this stamp, but from different printing cylinders, are the “Atlantis Island” and the recently discovered “Bemeja Island” varieties – subjects perhaps for a future “Look out”.

The Shadow over Cuba variety occurs on the 6^th stamp of sheets from printing cylinders ‘D 111’. The variety has been well-documented and known since the 1950s and is offered regularly in mint condition, but with a print-run for this stamp of almost 4 million, I would think there is a very good chance of discovering sleepers in general dealers’ stockbooks, particularly among the commercially used ones.

Catalogue prices are as follows: Zumstein  unmounted mint CHF 180,  S.B.K. unmounted mint CHF 150, hinged mint CHF 50.

Since I can show you the complete sheet with cylinder numbers D 111, let us also look at a couple of secondary varieties that occur on this sheet. Apart from the Shadow over Cuba on position 6, there is also the “Mid-Atlantic Island” on stamp no. 14 and the “Island chain off Brazil” on stamp no. 21

The “Mid-Atlantic Island” is described by Zumstein Specialized 2000 catalogue as a retouch (Z. 319.3.01a). As no unretouched stamps in this position are known, the retouch must have been executed before printing began. The variety shows as a strong dot directly on the meridian line which is weakened at that point.

Stamp 21 Island Chain off Brazil

This clearly visible variety is listed by Zumstein as 319.2.03, but only attracts a supplement of CHF 10, which seems out of proportion to the valuations on the “major” varieties of this stamp.

Editorial comment on stamp no 21 there looks to be some Islands off Morocco as well!

Our Member’s Area is now the most frequently visited part of the Website.

The Helvetia Society Newsletter Our Newsletter can be downloaded and read or printed from the member’s area – For a higher annual subscription members can have a printed copy posted but increasingly members choose the cheaper online subscription and download the newsletter. The newsletter archive is a treasure chest of information. All the files are pdf documents and can be searched using the standard PDF document search facility. Issues for recent years are only accessible from the member’s area, but older copies are available in the public area.

Meeting recordings.  Our online meetings (zoom) are now being recorded, and these are available in the members area.  If you are interested in a particular presentation, then you will find links to meetings with a list of the meetings content in the members area. If you have interesting material to present, then it will remain viewable by members for some time after the meeting (not sure how long but probably a year or two).

 Subscriptions 2026

The Membership Subscription is only 10 Pounds – for this you will receive electronic copies of the Helvetia Newsletter, a password to our members page on the website, the right to participate in Society physical and online meetings and you can participate in the Society exchange packet.  If you wish to receive posted copies of the Helvetia Society Newsletter the subscription rates are as follows £22 p.a. for Great Britain, £26 p.a. for Europe, £30 p.a. for Rest of the World. We welcome membership from anyone anywhere in the world who is interested in Swiss Philately. There is an application from you can download if you click the Join us tab.

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