Train showing working of Travelling Post Office apparatus
A Travelling Post Office (TPO) was a type of mail train in Great Britain 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. Mail was first sorted on a moving train in January 1838, in a converted horse-box, on England's Grand Junction Railway. In 1866, apparatus for picking up and setting down mailbags without stopping was installed at Slough and Maidenhead. Mail bag exchange apparatus's like this were used between 1852 - 1971 on Travelling Post Offices to pick up and put down mails without the need for trains to stop. Mail bag exchange apparatus's operated by putting mail into leather pouches weighing between 20lb and 60lb that were attached to an arm which would suspend it 5ft above the ground and 3ft away from the carriage side. The carriage was equipped with a net, fitted to the side, with an opening into the carriage behind it to catch incoming pouches. Royal Mail decided to suspend all transportation of mail by rail in 2003. The last TPO services went out on the night of 9 January 2004,ending the sorting of mail on trains in the UK.
Size: 2795px × 4443px
Location: Unknown
Photo credit: © Digbydachshund / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: apparatus, carriage, collecting, hut, lineside, lms, lnwr, office, permanent, post, railway, tpo, train, travelling
