I am always amazed at what can be found with Google. The copyright for "Mail by Rail" has expired and the book can be downloaded for FREE in pdf format at: http://www.archive.org/details/mailbyrailstoryo00long I have not read it yet, but it looks to be interesting and thorough.
John Shannon --- In [email protected], JGG KahnSr <jacekahn@...> wrote: > > > My first congregation was in Burlington IA, and two of the older men there > were retired rail postal clerks, presumably having worked the CB&Q mainline > trains.I remember their mentioning having to carry .38 calibre revolvers > (issued, I believe) to protect the mails. Although I think there is a > special interest group forrail postal buffs, it seemed more a subgroup within > philately. So far as I know, the only full treatment of RPO's is something > titled "Mail by Rail" from the 1950's.If I remember what I've heard/read > operations such as Bob remembered usually had bagged or pouched mail, dropped > off at each station to be picked up bythe postmaster, who also brought > pouches of unsorted outbound to be sorted later by a full RPO or at a more > central sorting center, no real sorting en routefor the branch. And, to state > the obvious, until modern times (1960's or so) the local postmaster was still > a political appointee, patronage for supporting the successful > presidentialcandidate (and the campaign manager usually was postmaster > general in the cabinet). When the government was much smaller throughout > most of US history, thepostmastership was one of the few patronage > appointments available to the Federal government. > > Jace Kahn > > General Manager > Ceres & Canisteo RR Co./Champlain County Traction Co. > > > > > > > > > > > > > My Stepfather was a postmaster in the small town I grew up in. Also > an aunt was a postal clerk--like I said a small town! Anyway the > town was served by the Milwaukee road with two daily trains pulling > the unique branchline combines. So the baggage section held both > REA, sorted/bagged mail and miscellaneous LCL items (cream cans > mostly). The clerk was charged with carrying a side arm to protect > the mail! Apparently he also carried a half-pint flask with him, so > I don't know if it would have done any good. The mail contract was > the only thing keeping the line operating with two trains. Sometime > in the late 50's the mail system was changed so one train per day > handled everything. Unfortunately the train and it's schedule kept > getting worse, so the mail patrons complained, so it wasn't long > before the mail went to trucks from a drop-off point from Mobridge, > South Dakota. Occasionally the contract driver, who had a pickup > truck with a homemade covered topper, would have to leave much of it > behind because of space. Again folks complained that they didn't get > their SS checks or the package from Sears. So when the Olympian > Hiawatha was cut back to Aberdeen, South Dakota things became more > reliable for a long time except during the Christmas season. The > line had a working RPO for much of the time plus some pre-sorted > bags of mail in boxcars. However the third-class stuff in the > boxcars wouldn't be shipped until the car was full. I don't know if > that was a RR thing or a PO thing. > > > > I've been looking into finding out more information but it's pretty > scarce for these far-flung locations. Step-father had to juggle the > needs of the patrons with practical part of all this. I do know > that to ship a letter to a small town about 15 miles away (on the > SOO Line) the mail would have to go to some junction town in > Minnesota and come back. It was a 20 minute ride or about 4 days > via mail. > > > > Bob Werre > > PhotoTraxx > > > > On 2/24/12 5:20 PM, Ed wrote: > > > > > > "Mail Storage" meant mail that was shipped from one > location to another without being "worked" en-route. The > opposite of the RPO car where mail is sorted, picked-up > and dropped off en-route. Many "baggage cars" were also > used in "mail storage" service on passenger trains. > > > Pieter E. Roos > > > > Gents... > > > > Taking this RPO/storage/baggage topic a bit > further.......One common question is: "Where in the train > should the RPO be positioned -- ahead of the baggage cars > or behind the baggage cars?" > > > > The answer, I believe, depends on whether the RPO is a > "working" car or merely a "storage/transport" car. If the > RPO has men inside actively sorting the mail, it is then a > working car and belongs ahead of the baggage car(s) closer > to the engine. If the RPO does not have any sorting > activity taking place inside, then it is a > storage/transport car and can be (should be?) behind the > baggage cars closer to the passenger cars. Or, it might be > the vice versa. The details escape me, but the general > idea is firmly entrenched in a mushy brain. > > > > Cheers....Ed L. > > www.sscale.org > ------------------------------------ Yahoo! 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