Baltimore Ohio Railway Post Offices Presented at the

Baltimore & Ohio Railway Post Offices Presented at the B&O Historical Society Founder’s Day Banquet March 19, 2011 Railway Mail Service Library in the former N&W Railway station at Boyce, Virginia

Presentation Overview I. Overview of the Railway Mail Service II. Functions of a Railway Post Office III. “Linking 13 Great States With The Nation” via the Washington, DC, Gateway

I. Overview of the Railway Mail Service RMS “Eagle” badge introduced in 1899

Railway Mail Service n Experimental route in 1862 between Hannibal and St. Joseph, Missouri n First permanent route established on August 28, 1864 between Chicago, Illinois, and Clinton, Iowa n Final run on June 30, 1977, between New York, and Washington, DC

Railway Mail Service n Railway Mail Service (RMS) was renamed Postal Transportation Service in 1949. n The Postal Transportation Service (PTS) changed to the Bureau of Transportation in 1960. n During most of the 20 th Century, there were 15 RMS/PTS divisions. B&O RPO routes were in the 2 nd, 3 rd, 5 th, 6 th, and 15 th Divisions.

II. Functions of a Railway Post Office A 1944 magazine advertisement depicting the New York & Chicago ED/MD/WD RPO trains 25 and 26. B&O 60 -feet RPOs had nearly identical interiors and performed the same functions.

Railway Post Office Functions n A Railway Post Office (RPO) enabled en route distribution of several mail classes: first (letters), second (newspapers), and fourth (parcel post) which had special handling or special delivery. n Air mail was frequently diverted to RPOs during inclement weather. n Registered mail, a service of first class,

Railway Post Office Functions n Crews of Railway Mail Clerks staffed RPOs and were Post Office Department employees. n The average trip length for a 60 -feet RPO crew was 300 miles. The longest RPO routes over the B&O were between Washington and Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh and Chicago, and Wheeling and Chicago. n Many crews had an additional two to four hours of “advance time” before departure from the initial terminal.

III. “Linking 13 Great States With The Nation” via the Washington, DC, Gateway Cincinnati & St. Louis RPO departing St. Louis, which will run east to Washington, DC

Mail Transportation on the B&O n Service was performed in three ways: RPO space, storage mail space, and Terminal/Transfer Offices n Railroads rented space on trains in RPOs and storage mail cars on the basis of capacity and mileage to the RMS/PTS. Term/TO facilities were leased to the RMS/PTS. n RPOs didn’t just serve post offices located along a railroad’s route. An illustration of connections at Washington, DC, depicts how the routes over the B&O were integrated into the national RMS/PTS network.

Mail Transportation on the Several slides illustrate how. B&O RPO routes over the B&O connected with others radiating from Washington. A substantial amount of mail to and from each train connected with the Terminal RPO located within the city post office adjacent to Washington Union Station. Selected pages from these primary source documents are provided with this presentation slide handout: n Washington Terminal Employee Timetable # , 218 4/6/46 n RMS Schedule of Mail Routes n Second Division # 471, 01/14/46 n Third Division # 555, 04/30/46 n Fifteenth Division # 175, 02/20/46

Mail Transportation on the B&O RPO Routes Terminating at Washington, DC, : n Washington & Chicago East Division. n Washington & Grafton (also called the Washington & St. Louis East Division) n New York, Baltimore and Washington.

Mail Transportation on the B&O Washington & Chicago East Division n n Eastbound trains 8, 10, 22, and 34 Westbound trains 7, 11, 15, and 25 Connections to and from these trains: n n n Buffalo & Washington New York, Baltimore & Washington & Bluemont Washington & Bristol Washington & Charlotte Washington & Cincinnati East Division Washington & Florence Washington & Grafton Washington & Hamlet Washington & Harrisonburg Highway Post Office

Mail Transportation on the B&O Washington & Grafton n n Eastbound trains 4 and 12 Westbound trains 1, 11, and 23 n. Connections to and from these trains: n Buffalo & Washington n New York, Baltimore & Washington n Washington & Bristol n Washington & Charlotte n Washington & Chicago East Division n Washington & Cincinnati East Division n Washington & Florence n Washington & Hamlet

Mail Transportation on the B&O New York, Baltimore and Washington n n Northbound trains 2 and 6 Southbound trains 1 and 511 Connections to and from these trains: n n n n n Buffalo & Washington New York & Washington & Bristol Washington & Charlotte Washington & Chicago East Division Washington & Cincinnati East Division Washington & Florence Washington & Grafton Washington & Hamlet

Mail Transportation on the B&O Summary: n Mail connections at Washington were made two ways: n Direct pouch between trains handled through the Washington, DC, transfer office n Mail dispatched to the Terminal that was distributed and sent to a specific train. n Similar inter-route connections existed at all major B&O terminals as well as junction points.

Question s? 1880 s Mail Crane with Catcher Pouch

Thank you! Watch for the Owney stamp to be issued on July 26, 2011. Owney traveled on RPOs between 1888 and 1897 and was considered the mascot of the RMS. Owney at Pittsfield, Massachusetts

For more information: Frank R. Scheer, Railway Mail Service Library f_scheer@yahoo. com 117 East Main Street Boyce, VA 22620 -9639