A Post Office Sorting Van is a type of rail vehicle built for use in a Travelling Post Office.

British Rail

British Rail

British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...

 built ninety-six of these vehicles between 1959 and 1977, to several similar designs, all based on the Mark 1 coach design

British Railways Mark 1

British Railways Mark 1 was the family designation for the first standardised designs of railway carriages built by British Railways. Following nationalisation in 1948, BR had continued to build carriages to the designs of the "Big Four" companies , and the Mark 1 was intended to be the...

. They were numbered in the range 80300–80395. The earliest vehicles built featured catching nets and collection arms, to allow mail bags to be exchanged without the train needing to stop, a practice which continued until 1971. Following the Great Train Robbery

Great Train Robbery (1963)

The Great Train Robbery is the name given to a £2.6 million train robbery committed on 8 August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England. The bulk of the stolen money was not recovered...

, vehicles from 80319 onwards featured a revised design with smaller windows.

In the early 1970s, British Rail introduced the TOPS

TOPS

Total Operations Processing System, or TOPS, is a computer system for managing the locomotives and rolling stock owned by a rail system...

 classification system. Vehicles were given the TOPS code NS, followed by an A if they were air-braked, V if vacuum-braked, or an X if they had both air and vacuum brakes.

Preservation

Several sorting vehicles have been preserved, including examples from most of the big four companies, as well as some from even earlier. There are also several BR Mark 1 vehicles in preservation, including the first-built vehicle, no. 80300; the last vehicle built with large windows, no. 80318; and the final vehicle overhauled by EWS

EWS

DB Schenker Rail , before 2009 known as English, Welsh and Scottish Railway is a British rail freight company. EWS was established by a consortium led by Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation in 1996 by acquisition of five of the six freight companies created by the privatisation of British...

, no. 80382. The complete list is shown below:

British Rail Mk1 TPO sorting vehicles:

Number	TOPS Code	Name	Built	Location	Notes
80300	NSX	-	1959 Wolverton	Severn Valley Railway Severn Valley Railway The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route...	First-built vehicle.
80301	NSX	-	1959 Wolverton	Great Central Railway Great Central Railway (preserved) The Great Central Railway is a heritage railway split into two adjacent sections, one in Leicestershire and the other Nottinghamshire.The Leicestershire section is currently Britain's only double track mainline heritage railway, with of working double track, period signalling, locomotives and...	-
80307	NSX	-	1959 Wolverton	Severn Valley Railway Severn Valley Railway The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route...	-
80318	NSX	-	1961 Wolverton	Colne Valley Railway Colne Valley Railway The Colne Valley Railway is a heritage railway based at Castle Hedingham Station, near Halstead in Essex, England. The railway consists of a mile-long running line, with a fully reconstructed station, signal box and railway yard...	Last vehicle built with large windows.
80327	NSA	George James	1969 York	Nene Valley Railway Nene Valley Railway The Nene Valley Railway is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is currently seven and a half miles in length...	-
80328	NSA	-	1969 York	Severn Valley Railway Severn Valley Railway The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route...	-
80329	NSA	-	1969 York	Severn Valley Railway Severn Valley Railway The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route...	-
80334	NSA	-	1969 York	Rushden, Higham & Wellingborough Railway	-
80337	NSA	Brian White	1969 York	Nene Valley Railway Nene Valley Railway The Nene Valley Railway is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is currently seven and a half miles in length...	-
80345	NSA	Richard Yeo	1969 York	Didcot Railway Centre Didcot Railway Centre Didcot Railway Centre, located in the town of Didcot in the English county of Oxfordshire, is based around the site of a comprehensive "engine shed" which became redundant after the nationalisation of the UK railways, due to the gradual changeover from steam to diesel motive power.-Description:The...	-
80349	NSA	-	1969 York	Great Central Railway Great Central Railway (preserved) The Great Central Railway is a heritage railway split into two adjacent sections, one in Leicestershire and the other Nottinghamshire.The Leicestershire section is currently Britain's only double track mainline heritage railway, with of working double track, period signalling, locomotives and...	-
80371	NSA	-	1973 York	Gwili Railway Gwili Railway The Gwili Steam Railway operates a standard gauge preserved railway from Abergwili Junction in South Wales along a short section of the former Carmarthen to Aberystwyth railway that closed for passenger traffic in 1965, the track being lifted in 1975.The Gwili Railway was formed in 1974 and, by...	-
80374	NSA	-	1973 York	Battlefield Line Railway Battlefield Line Railway The Battlefield Line Railway is a heritage railway in Leicestershire, England. It runs from Shackerstone to Shenton , via Market Bosworth, a total of...	-
80382	NSA	-	1977 Wolverton	Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway The Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway is a Heritage railway in Falkirk, Scotland. It is operated by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society, and operates some 5 miles of track, virtually the entire Slamannan and Borrowstounness Railway that became part of the former North British Railway on the Firth...	Rebuilt from SK Standard Corridor The Standard Corridor type of railway carriage was one of the standard mid-20th century designs, and was coded SK by the LNER and BR, and CF by the LMS...  25109.
80394	NSA	-	1977 Wolverton	Buckinghamshire Railway Centre Buckinghamshire Railway Centre Buckinghamshire Railway Centre is a railway museum operated by the Quainton Railway Society Ltd. at Quainton Road railway station, in the far depths of "Metro-land", about 5 miles west of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. The site is divided into two halves which are joined by two foot-bridges, one of...	Rebuilt from SK Standard Corridor The Standard Corridor type of railway carriage was one of the standard mid-20th century designs, and was coded SK by the LNER and BR, and CF by the LMS...  25156.

Pre-nationalisation design TPO sorting vehicles:

Number	Company	Built	Location	Notes
70294	LNER London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...	1937 York	Great Central Railway Great Central Railway (preserved) The Great Central Railway is a heritage railway split into two adjacent sections, one in Leicestershire and the other Nottinghamshire.The Leicestershire section is currently Britain's only double track mainline heritage railway, with of working double track, period signalling, locomotives and...	Only surviving LNER TPO.
30225	LMS London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...	1939 Wolverton	Midland Railway - Butterley Midland Railway - Butterley The Midland Railway – Butterley is a heritage railway, formerly known until 2004 as the Midland Railway Centre, at Butterley, near Ripley in Derbyshire.-Overview:...	-
30272	LMS	1949 Wolverton	Nene Valley Railway Nene Valley Railway The Nene Valley Railway is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is currently seven and a half miles in length...	Formerly in National Collection. Last surviving vehicle from Great Train Robbery set.
4920	Southern Southern Railway (Great Britain) The Southern Railway was a British railway company established in the 1923 Grouping. It linked London with the Channel ports, South West England, South coast resorts and Kent...	1939 Eastleigh	Nene Valley Railway Nene Valley Railway The Nene Valley Railway is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is currently seven and a half miles in length...	Formerly in National Collection.
4922	Southern	1939 Eastleigh	Bluebell Railway Bluebell Railway The Bluebell Railway is a heritage line running for nine miles along the border between East and West Sussex, England. Steam trains are operated between and , with an intermediate station at .The railway is managed and run largely by volunteers...

Pre-grouping TPO sorting vehicles:

Number	Company	Built	Location	Notes
2178	GNR Great Northern Railway (Great Britain) The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....	1885 Doncaster	Nene Valley Railway Nene Valley Railway The Nene Valley Railway is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is currently seven and a half miles in length...	Only surviving GNR TPO. Six-wheeled.
599	GWR Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...	1889 Swindon	St Germans	Only surviving broad-gauge TPO vehicle.
20	LNWR London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...	1909 Wolverton	The Railway Age The Railway Age The Crewe Heritage Centre, formerly the Crewe Railway Age is a railway museum, located in Crewe, England. The Railway Age was rebranded to its original name of Crewe Heritage Centre in early 2008...	Later LMS 30244.
186	WCJS London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...	1883 Wolverton	National Railway Museum National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the British National Museum of Science and Industry and telling the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It has won many awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001...	Later LMS 30384.

External links

• Nene Valley Railway TPO Group - owners of preserved vehicles 80327 and 80337
• Rail Vehicle Preservation - custodians of preserved vehicle 80301