McCarthy, Peter (2015). Canadian Mail by Rail 1853-1923.

In Canadian Mail by Rail 1853-1923, Peter McCarthy illustrates the Railway Post Office Markings used on the Grand Trunk and Great Western Railways between Island Pond, Vermont and Sarnia and Windsor, Canada West/Ontario. More than a postal history, it is also the story of the development of the major railroad network from the Quebec-Vermont border on the east to the Ontario-Michigan border on the west. Born in Montreal, Peter McCarthy worked for 31 years for the Canadian National Railways, retiring in 1994 as a Train Conductor. Around 1980 his lifelong stamp collecting evolved into specialization in Canadian Railway Post Office cancellations and postal history. He wrote stamp columns for the Sherbrooke Record for six years and for Keeping Track, the CNR’s monthly newspaper, for 3 years. He also wrote numerous articles for the British North America Philatelic Society’s BNA TOPICS, the Postal History Society Journal and The Newsletter of the Canadian R.P.O. Study Group, and contributed to STAMPS, Stamp Collector and Canadian Stamp News.Peter has exhibited extensively since 1990. He is a member of BNAPS, the Philatelic Specialists Society of Canada, the Middlesex Stamp Club and the Oxford Philatelic Society. Since 2005 he has served as the Secretary Treasurer of BNAPS’ Golden Horseshoe Regional group. He was Chairman for BNAPEX 2003 in London, Ontario and Exhibits Coordinator for BNAPEX 2011 in North Bay, Ontario. In 2009 Peter was inducted into the Order of the Beaver, the Fellowship of BNAPS, and considers this the crowning event of his time as a philatelist.Canadian Mail by Rail has been a work in progress for the past twenty-five years, first receiving Silver and Vermeil awards at both regional and national level exhibitions. A national Gold award finally came in 2008 at the Edmonton National Spring show, followed by Gold at BNAPEX 2008 in Halifax. In 2010 the exhibit was awarded Gold, Best of Class and the APS Award of Excellence at the Omaha Stamp Show. More recently, it has received Gold at both ORAPEX 2013 in Ottawa and at FILEX 2015 in Montreal.