Travelling Post Office
Encyclopedia
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
train in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
where the post was sorted en-route. The last Travelling Post Office services were ended on 9 January 2004, with the carriages used now sold for scrap or to preservation societies.
Carriage of mail by train
Following an agreement in 1830, made between the General Post Office and the Liverpool and Manchester RailwayLiverpool and Manchester Railway
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the world's first inter-city passenger railway in which all the trains were timetabled and were hauled for most of the distance solely by steam locomotives. The line opened on 15 September 1830 and ran between the cities of Liverpool and Manchester in North...
(L&MR), mail had been carried by train in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, between Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
and Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, via the L&MR. The passing of the Railways (Conveyance of Mails) Act 1838
Railways (Conveyance of Mails) Act 1838
The Railways Act 1838 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, signed into law on August 14, 1838...
required railway companies to carry mail, by ordinary or special trains, as required by the Post Master General; however this act did not set the charges for such services.
These special trains eventually became Travelling Post Offices (TPOs). TPOs were employed in many British Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
countries; and the Army Post Office had its own TPOs.
TPOs were equipped with letter boxes so that mail could be posted whilst the train stood at a station. The post-marks from TPOs are valued by philatelists.
History
Mail was first sorted on a moving train in January 1838, in a converted horse-box, on England'sEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
Grand Junction Railway
Grand Junction Railway
The Grand Junction Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was merged into the London and North Western Railway...
. It was carried out at the suggestion of Frederick Karstadt, a General Post Office surveyor. Karstadt's son was one of two mail clerks who did the sorting. In 1845 the service was extended via Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
to Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
by the Midland Railway
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
; and soon after reached Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
The first special postal train was operated by the Great Western Railway
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...
between London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. The inaugural train ran on 1 February 1855, leaving Paddington station
Paddington station
Paddington railway station, also known as London Paddington, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex.The site is a historic one, having served as the London terminus of the Great Western Railway and its successors since 1838. Much of the current mainline station dates...
at 20:46, and arriving at Bristol at 00:30. In 1866, apparatus for picking up and setting down mailbags without stopping was installed at Slough
Slough
Slough is a borough and unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Royal Berkshire, England. The town straddles the A4 Bath Road and the Great Western Main Line, west of central London...
and Maidenhead
Maidenhead
Maidenhead is a town and unparished area within the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It lies on the River Thames and is situated west of Charing Cross in London.-History:...
.
Post-privatisation of British Rail
After the privatisation of British RailPrivatisation of British Rail
The privatisation of British Rail was set in motion when the Conservative government enacted, on 19 January 1993, the British Coal and British Rail Act 1993 . This enabled the relevant Secretary of State to issue directions to the relevant Board...
in the mid 1990s, British TPOs were operated by Rail Express Systems
Rail Express Systems
Upon the sectorisation of British Rail during the 1980s the Parcels Sector was created. In 1991 this was rebranded Rail Express Systems. The Rail Express Systems launch event was held at Crewe Diesel Depot in October 1991. For this event examples of Class 08, 47, 86 & 90 locomotives were painted...
, and their successor EWS
DB Schenker Rail (UK)
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...
. Royal Mail decided to suspend all transportation of mail by rail in 2003. The last TPO services went out on 9 January 2004, ending the sorting of mail on trains in the UK. Eighty percent of the sorters took early retirement, rather than retrain for other roles.
However, Royal Mail did restore the movement of some already-sorted letters by rail in time for the Christmas season that year, contracting with EWS's competitor GB Railfreight to resume bulk transfer services along the West Coast Main Line
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...
between its mail terminals at London (Willesden), Warrington and Glasgow (Sheildmuir
Shieldmuir railway station
Shieldmuir railway station is a railway station in the Craigneuk suburb of Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, and lies on the West Coast Main Line, although it is not served by mainline services - local commuter services from the station are provided via the Argyle Line by First ScotRail on...
) using the dedicated Class 325
British Rail Class 325
The British Rail Class 325 is a 4 car dual-voltage 25 kV alternating current or 750 V direct current electric multiple unit train used for postal train services. They are based on the Class 319. The Class 325 was British Rail's newest unit to take over parcels working on electrified...
electric multiple units that had been in operation since 1996. In 2009 the contract for these mail trains was transferred to EWS's successor DB Schenker Rail
DB Schenker Rail (UK)
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...
. For flexibility Royal Mail has preserved rail access to its distribution centres on Tyneside (Low Fell) and at Tonbridge in Kent, and does occasionally send mail trains to Low Fell, for example when Newcastle Airport was closed by snow.
TPO vehicles
TPOs were formed of several different types of vehicle:- Post Office Sorting VanPost Office Sorting VanA Post Office Sorting Van is a type of rail vehicle built for use in a Travelling Post Office.British Rail built ninety-six of these vehicles between 1959 and 1977, to several similar designs, all based on the Mark 1 coach design. They were numbered in the range 80300–80395...
- Post Office Stowage VanPost Office Stowage VanA Post Office Stowage Van is a type of rail vehicle built for use in a Travelling Post Office . Several of these have passed into preservation as they are very useful for storage on the railways.-Preservation:...
- Brake Post Office Stowage VanBrake Post Office Stowage VanA Brake Post Office Stowage Van is a type of rail vehicle built for use in a Travelling Post Office.British Rail built nine of these vehicles between 1959 and 1968, to two similar designs, both based on the Mark 1 coach design. They were numbered in the range 80450-80458...
- Courier Vehicle
- Propelling Control VehiclePropelling Control VehicleA Propelling Control Vehicle is a type of British railway carriage for carrying mail. They were converted from Class 307 driving trailers and have a cab at one end. This allows mail trains to be propelled at low speed, with the locomotive at the rear of the train being driven from the...
- Brake Guard
- General Utility VanGeneral Utility VanA General Utility Van is a type of rail vehicle built by British Rail and its predecessors, which was primarily used for transporting mail and parcels. They were used by both Express Parcels Systems, the British Post Office and Railtrack. National Rail and some Train Operating Companies still use...
See also
- Great Central Steam Railway - where the Travelling Post Office and Mail Exchange on the Move is recreated
- Great Train Robbery (1963)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...
in which £2.3 million was stolen from a Glasgow to London TPO train - Night MailNight MailNight Mail is a 1936 documentary film about a London, Midland and Scottish Railway mail train from London to Scotland, produced by the GPO Film Unit. A poem by English poet W. H. Auden was written for it, used in the closing few minutes, as was music by Benjamin Britten...
- Film and Poem about Travelling Post Office - Railways (Conveyance of Mails) Act 1838Railways (Conveyance of Mails) Act 1838The Railways Act 1838 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, signed into law on August 14, 1838...
- Railway post officeRailway post officeIn the United States a railway post office, commonly abbreviated as RPO, was a railroad car that was normally operated in passenger service as a means to sort mail en route, in order to speed delivery. The RPO was staffed by highly trained Railway Mail Service postal clerks, and was off-limits to...
- The term for cars in North AmericaNorth AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n use that served similar functions. - SNCF TGV La PosteSNCF TGV La PosteThe SNCF TGV La Poste trains were built by Alstom between 1978–1986. These TGV units are essentially TGV Sud-Est trainsets that are modified for transporting mail for the French postal carrier La Poste. The top speed is , making them the fastest freight trains in the world.5 half-trainsets were...
- French Post Office dedicated TGV sets. - British Rail Class 325British Rail Class 325The British Rail Class 325 is a 4 car dual-voltage 25 kV alternating current or 750 V direct current electric multiple unit train used for postal train services. They are based on the Class 319. The Class 325 was British Rail's newest unit to take over parcels working on electrified...
, Royal Mail EMUs used in Britain. - London Post Office RailwayLondon Post Office RailwayThe Post Office Railway, also known as Mail Rail, was a narrow-gauge driverless private underground railway in London built by the Post Office with assistance from the Underground Electric Railways Company of London to move mail between sorting offices...
, which Royal Mail used to transport mail across London on private underground tracks
External links
- The Travelling Post Office, British Postal Museum and Archive
- Travelling Post Offices, Allan Yeo website.
- Parcels and Post Office Traffic, Mike Smith 'Goods and Not So Goods' website.
- Mail by Rail, John Chenery 'Light Straw' website.
- Friends of M30272M TPO Group, Nene Valley RailwayNene Valley RailwayThe 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...
(via archive.org) - Schedule of mail trains operating from London (Willesden) in 2002
- TPO and Seapost Society for all collectors of Rail and Ship Mail worldwide