This postcard highlights the establishment of the Railway Post Office (RPO) in 1864.
At the time, mail was transported by various methods, including horseback, stagecoaches, steamboats, and trains.
For mail transported by train, the mail remained in sacks, unopened from one post office to the next. This system was inefficient and lead to delays.
The Railway Post Office introduced the innovation of sorting mail en route, significantly improving delivery speed and efficiency, and operated for over 113 years, from 1864 to 1977.
By 1951, the RPO network employed 30,000 clerks, utilized 3,200 cars, covered 165,000 miles, and handled 93% of all non-local mail.
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The 3rd postcard sent by Bryon (the USA) never made it. So, he kindly sent a replacement.[1-2, 3, 4, 5-6...]
I never knew the US had a railway post office - makes sense given the distances mail needed to travel
ReplyDeleteIt used to be travelling post offices in Europe, too. See this postcard, for example. I have another postcard about the same matter, but I am not able to find it right now.
DeleteI knew about the one in Britain, I have no idea why I didn't realize they would be used in other countries.
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