History
From the 1850s through the 1960s, most mail traveling between cities went by train for most of its journey. From the 1880s through the 1960s, almost all intercity mail went by train. Benjamin Franklin had a dream of providing dependable mail service at low cost to every city and town throughout the nation. Railroads made that dream a reality.
Railway Post Office cars were genuine post offices on wheels. U.S. Postal Department mail clerks staffed the cars and sorted mail enroute. For security of the mail, no one other than USPD employees could enter the car, not even the railroad's crew or staff. Clerks wore pistols to enforce that rule.
 
A feature on most RPO cars was a hook that could be used to snatch a leather or canvas pouch of outgoing mail hanging on a track-side mail crane at small towns where the train did not stop. With the train often traveling at 70 miles per hour or faster, a postal clerk would have a pouch of mail ready to be dispatched as the train passed the station. In a coordinated movement, the catcher arm was swung out to catch the hanging mail pouch while the clerk stood in the open doorway. As the inbound pouch slammed into the catcher arm, the clerk kicked the outbound mail pouch out of the car, making certain to kick it far enough that it was not sucked back under the speeding train. An employee of the local post office would retrieve this pouch and deliver it to the post office.
Enroute distribution of mail on trains made it possible for letters to travel as quickly as people did in those days when there were no faster alternatives for communication. As mail delivery evolved from foot to horseback, stagecoach, steamboat, railroad, automobile, and airplane, mail contracts ensured the income necessary to build the great highways, rail lines, and airways that eventually spanned the continent.
At their height, RPO cars were used on over 9,000 train routes covering more than 200,000 miles in North America. Replaced by highway vehicles and airplanes, the last United States RPO ran between New York and Washington in 1977.
The Museum of Transportation’s Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway Post Office #1942 was built in 1922 by Standard Steel Car Company and was in service until 1969 when it was donated by the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad.
Budget
Estimated cost for this project is $25,000.00.
| Exterior restoration |
$4,000.00 |
| Lexan (Plexiglas) and related fabrication |
$3,000.00 |
| Interior conservation |
$3,000.00 |
| Interpretive exhibits and signage |
$11,000.00 |
| Design materials, fabrication & installation of steps |
$4,000.00 |
| Total |
$25,000.00 |
Donations received to date:
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