RPO on N&W No. 8

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JB Farley said: : "I grew up in Roanoke, the son and grandson of N&W employees. I had relatives in Rice VA, about 6 miles east of Farmville on the old N&W main. I remember riding No. 8 unaccompanied as a youngster, from Roanoke to Rice on a number of occasions in the mid-50's. The train was under Mr. Murray Via, conductor. My most vivid memory is that the mail clerks would come back to the coach, to socialize with the conductor and trainman. I was also invited (as the only passenger, typically) to join in. It was really special to me because the postal clerks were armed! I think they carried S&W short barrel revolvers. Visions of train robbers.......Anyhow I think the RPO was a small compartment. The coach was frequently a RF&P unit.? I would take No.8 on Fridays and return to Roanoke on No. 7 on Sundays.I had a great uncle who was a retired engineer on the Norfolk Division. Many of the engineers knew him and they would blow a "whipporwill" sort of sound as they approached his home just east of Rice. It sounded specially good when coming from a J."

Thank you for your recollections, J.B. The Railway Post Office (RPO) apartment on trains 7 and 8 was 15-feet. Ordinarily, only one and occasionally two clerks were assigned to these small RPOs. They were also not supposed to be elsewhere in the train while on duty, so I am wondering if some of the clerks you recalled were deadheading to the beginning of their runs.  Train 7 on Sundays did not have a working RPO so the one or two clerks may have been riding the coach back to Roanoke after a Saturday night lay-over in Petersburg.  However, I learned long ago to "never say never" so your recollection is very interesting. There might have also been an Railway Express messenger assigned to these trains since trains 7 and 8 were primarily daytime mail and express locals.

Some Railway Postal Clerks were assigned Smith & Wesson firearms but the majority of pistols issued to clerks were Colt Bankers Special .38 two-inch barrel guns.  I have attached a sample picture.

Best wishes,

Frank Scheer
f_scheer at yahoo.com
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