Travelling Post Office

thumb|TPO at the [[Colne Valley Railway. Visible to the right of the Royal Mail logo is the letter box, for first class post only.]]

thumb|TPO interior

A Travelling Post Office (TPO) was a type of mail train used in Great Britain and Ireland where the post was sorted en route, used from 1830 to 1996.

The TPO can be traced back to the earlier days of the railway, the first ever postal movement by rail being performed by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) on 11 November 1830. The Railways (Conveyance of Mails) Act 1838 obliged railway companies to carry mail, and thus specialised rolling stock was quickly provided; the first true TPO emerged that same year. Further innovations followed, such as the development of lineside apparatus for picking up and setting down mailbags while underway, and the use of dedicated mail trains. By 1914, there were 126 TPO carriages in operation throughout the United Kingdom, while numerous other nations had adopted the concept, wholly or in part, as well.

During the latter part of the twentieth century, rail mail was subject to various changes. In Britain, Rail Express Systems (RES) was formed during the 1980s to rejuvenate the market, streamlining and centralising rail mail services, resulting in TPO coverage decreasing over the following years. During the 1990s, the Royal Mail, Britain's main customer for TPOs, ordered 16 four-car British Rail Class 325 electric multiple units to replace locomotive-hauled counterparts in handling parcels. However, wider economic factors, including increasingly effective mechanical sorting methods in comparison to the TPO's manual sorting by hand, along with operational safety concerns, made it increasingly unattractive to continue operating such services. Accordingly, the night of the 9/10 January 2004 saw the final TPO services run in Great Britain, with the carriages themselves used then sold for scrap or to preservation societies. The final load of mail to be loaded aboard a travelling post office was the consignment by air from Scotland via Bristol airport, put aboard the TPO at Yatton Station, Somerset in the early hours of 10 January 2004.

History

Origins

On 11 November 1830, the first ever postal movement by rail was made by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR), which had come to an agreement with the General Post Office (GPO) to move their mail upon L&MR services. It quickly became apparent that the railways were providing a much faster method of conveying letters across the country than traditional horse-drawn coaches. Accordingly, the carriage of mail by train in Great Britain became a routine event within a matter of years. Initially, the movement of mail was at the choice of individual railway companies, being able to accept or refuse to do so at their discretion.

The passing of the Railways (Conveyance of Mails) Act 1838 substantially reshaped the rail mail market. Chiefly, it required all railway companies to carry mail, either by ordinary or special trains, as required by the Postmaster General; however, this act did not stipulate what was to be charged for such services. Karstadt's son was one of two mail clerks who did the sorting.

During 1845, the Midland Railway decided to extend their TPO services via Derby to Newcastle upon Tyne; and soon after reached Scotland. The first special postal train was operated by the Great Western Railway between London and Bristol; the inaugural train ran on 1 February 1855, leaving Paddington station at 20:46, and arriving at Bristol at 00:30.

Prior to 1885, it was common practice for TPO carriages to be added to consists of normal passenger services. TPOs were usually equipped with letter boxes, enabling people in stations to post mail whilst the train was stationary. The post-marks from TPOs are valued by philatelists.

thumb|A TPO, circa 1890, showing the equipment used for transferring the mail bags to and from the train whilst it was travelling at full speed

During 1866, apparatus for picking up and setting down mailbags without stopping was installed at Slough and Maidenhead. This concept had first been patented in 1838 by Nathaniel Worsdell, first deputy mayor of Crewe, and carriage and wagon superintendent at Crewe Works. Use of the system became prevalent over the following decades, it became commonplace for TPO carriages to be fitted with several for handling automated mail pickups/dropoffs, sometimes being furnished with four separate arms per carriage. The final mail drop from a moving train using automatic apparatus was carried out on 4 October 1971 at a location just north of Penrith. Although there were in excess of 40 TPOs running at this time, item transfers were only carried out at stations after this date.

During the 1980s, BR planners endeavoured to rejuvenate numerous aspects of its operations and to better fulfil customer demands. There were also rising concerns over wellbeing of workers within TPOs, as there was little consideration towards crashworthiness or the wellbeing of the occupants in the event of a major accident. The discontinuation of TPOs reportedly saved RM £10m per year, while the contract to operate them reportedly equated to 10 per cent of EWS’ overall business, representing a major loss to the company. marking the end of sorting of mail on trains in Britain.

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 between its mail terminals at London (Willesden), Warrington and Glasgow (Sheildmuir) using the dedicated Class 325 electric multiple units that had been in operation since 1996.

Ireland

thumb|Former [[An Post travelling post office at the Downpatrick and County Down Railway. Note the P⁊T logo of the Irish Department of Posts and Telegraphs.]]

The carrying of mail by train commenced on 6 April 1835 and early TPOs began on Irish trains on the Dublin to Cork line on 1 January 1855, though general post-carrying vehicles had been around since the early days of the Dublin and Kingstown Railway. By 1910, a total of 13 TPOs were in operation throughout the country.

Preservation

Several Royal Mail TPOs have been preserved along with stowage vans and general utility vans (GUVs). Only one PCV (Propelling Control Vehicle) remains, currently at the Mid-Norfolk Railway. At these preserved lines the TPOs can be seen performing a live drop off/pick up from a preserved lineside apparatus. The Great Central Railway and the Nene Valley Railway are leading this endeavour with many weekends devoted to Mail by Rail. Other lines are following in their wake.

TPO vehicles

TPOs were formed of several different types of vehicle:

Post Office sorting van
Post Office stowage van
Brake Post Office stowage van
Propelling control vehicle
Brake van
General utility van

References

External links

The Travelling Post Office, British Postal Museum and Archive
The British Postal Museum & Archive - Victorian Travelling Post Office.
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 Railway (via archive.org)
TPO and Seapost Society for all collectors of Rail and Ship Mail worldwide
, an account of Travelling Post Offices in the 1930s