United States Railway Post Office #2314 - 2
by Mark Valentine
Title
United States Railway Post Office #2314 - 2
Artist
Mark Valentine
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photography
Description
RAILWAY POST OFFICES
In the 1830’s, shortly after the establishment of the first railroad in the U.S., the Post Office Department began to ship mail by rail.
The year 1838 saw some sorting of mail between Washington and Philadelphia, but the first Railway Post Office car is generally thought to have run in Missouri in 1862. Seven years later the Railway Mail Service was established, and RPO service began a great expansion. The peak came in 1915, when 20,000 clerks worked on nearly 4000 cars traveling over 216,000 miles of route. By 1951, the network was still robust (30,000 clerks, 3200 cars, 165,000 miles – handling 93% of all non-local mail), but highway and air competition were taking their toll.
Letters cancelled on an RPO bore a stamp indicating the route’s endpoints (not always the same as the train in which the car traveled), the number, the date, and “R.P.O.” Routes ranged in length from a few miles to over 1100 miles.
RPO cars were owned by and lettered for the various railroads, with UNITED STATES MAIL RAILWAY POST OFFICE also appearing on their sides. They were externally similar to baggage cars, except for their narrower doors and small windows.
Inside, the layout of pouch racks, letter cases, and other fittings was prescribed by the Post Office, ensuring adequate facilities and nationwide uniformity. RPO “apartments” came in a variety of sizes, with 15, 30, and 60 feet being the most common; the remainder of the car’s length was usually devoted to baggage space and, sometimes, passenger seating.
The RPO car you see on this display was built by the Pullman Car Company in 1911 and operated on the Union Pacific Railroad as baggage-postal car #2314. In 1941 it was updated to its’ current configuration and ran in service until the late 1950’s. At which time it was retired and donated to Sons of the Utah Pioneers about 1959. It was eventually brought to Heber City, Utah in 1981 and finally it was acquired by the Nevada State Railroad Museum and relocated to Boulder City in 1993.
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March 13th, 2015
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