A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: The Kahului Railroad?

K . R . R .

 HAWAII

From Frank Sente's collection is this example of a possible railroad printed precancel.  This stamp and cancel was not included in Richard Fullerton's 1952 list, or in the lists of Clarence Chappell or Charles Metz; my guess is that it was either 1) unknown at the time by any of these gentleman, 2) adjudged to be of questionable legitimacy,  or 3) not yet in existence by the middle of the 20th century.

Establishing that this was a legitimately prepared printed precancel could be difficult.  This appears to be the only known example of the cancel, which by itself is not necessarily a problem.  While we do know for sure that there was a K. R. R., the Kahului Railroad, this railroad was not part of a larger system that made use of precancels, and Hawaii was not known as a place for precancels at the time.  So this appears as something of an orphan, which raises concerns.  Further, the stamp has no other confirming contemporaneous markings, like a handstamped date and location, which would help with bonafides.

For now, this stamp and cancel is interesting, but needs some support to have it move from a "jury's out" section of a revised Fullerton list.