Southern versus N&W Railway mail routes

[NW Mailing List]

I don't know when the practice started, but the RPOs on the Southern trains 
went through Bristol.  They weren't switched.

EdKing
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "NW Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
To: <aschneiderjr at sbcglobal.net>
Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 5:57 PM
Subject: Southern versus N&W Railway mail routes



> From: aschneiderjr at sbcglobal.netTo: "Frank Scheer"

> <f_scheer at yahoo.com>, RailwayPO at yahoogroups.com

> Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 16:26:00 -0600

> Subject: Re: [RailwayPO] Southern versus N&W Railway

> mail routes

>

> Did RPO cars run only between their designated end

> points (such as Washingon and Bristol in this case)

> with mail being transferred to another route (Bristol

> and Chattanooga) and another car, in this case of the

> Southern?

>

> In retrospect it seems surprising that the post office

> didn't emulate Pullman and own its own cars, built to

> its own standards, and simply pay the railroad to haul

> them. For routes not meriting a full 60 foot car that

> wouldn't have worked, of course, but it would have

> reduced the risk to a railroad of having a major mail

> route and having to buy cars which would become

> useless if the route was removed. And while the

> individual railroad might have risk if it bought cars,

> the Post Office wouldn't because the mail would still

> be moving on some route. In addition, having its own

> cars would eliminate having to switch cars at

> interchange points like Bristol.

>

> Alex Schneider

>

>

> February 13, 2008

>

> The situation you've described, Alex, about carriers

> left with unneeded capital investment if the Post

> Office Department decided to withdraw service is

> precisely what confronted the Boston & Maine and

> Jersey Central in the mid-1960s.  The Post Office

> Department declined to make a long-term commitment to

> the carriers for the service life of replacement RPO

> cars.  The Union Pacific was the last carrier to order

> new equipment and did so in 1963.  Five years later,

> all of it was excessed.

>

> Back to Bristol: the cars continued through with the

> crew on a southbound train beginning to "lock down

> around Rural Retreat.  By Abingdon, the crew started

> to re-hang the racks with empty pouches and sacks

> according to the Bristol & Chattanooga rack diagram.

> When the WASH & BRIS RPO Train 41 crew climbed off,

> the BRIS & CHAT RPO Train 41 crew got on, labeled the

> racks and inserted case headers, and started

> distribution.  A similar process was repeated

> northbound for Train 42, with the lock-down starting

> at Johnson City.

>

> A Southern Railway car was always assigned to the WASH

> & BRIS RPO.  There was no need to switch in a N&W RPO

> at Lynchburg or switch it out at Bristol for the

> southbound runs, and vice versa for northbound.

>

> In contrast, the other operating procedure where two

> RPO routes met, such as the COLS & NORF RPO East and

> West Divisions at Bluefield, was that a car was placed

> and the crew worked on "advance time," usually about

> two or three hours before arrival of the inbound

> train.  Upon arrival, one RPO was switched out and the

> other switched in.  The small amount of working mail

> that had to be connected between the two routes was

> made via platform carts in the 15 or so minutes of

> dwell time.  Usually at these junction points, other

> equipment in the train consist was being switched in

> or out, too, so the station time wasn't entirely the

> result of changing RPO cars.

>

> There's a lot more detail that one could get into, but

> this covers the two basic operating scenarios for RPO

> routes.  If you have other questions, please ask.

>

> Good evening,

>

> Frank Scheer

> f_scheer at yahoo.com

>

>

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