http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TPzEbK6H2M
Every Saturday, Sunday and Holiday the Osceola and St Croix Valley Railway re-creates what was once a fixture of American life: Catching the mail on the fly. Until about 1967 when the US Postal Service switched to airplanes and trucks for mail distribution, Railway Post Office cars were operated at the head end of every passenger train. Mail was sorted en route. At every small town, a mailbag would be hung at the station. As the train passed, a Postal Employee would extend the RPO car's mail hook to grab the mail bag. Mail for that station would be ready in a bag at the door, to be kicked out onto the ground.
The O&StCV's 11:00 am departure for Dresser re-creates this by backing out of the station so that they can catch the mail at track speed. Retired RMS employees staff the RPO, explaining the history and operation to passengers. This is fairly unique - to my knowledge only one other museum in the US re-creates this on a scheduled basis.
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Every Saturday, Sunday and Holiday the Osceola and St Croix Valley Railway re-creates what was once a fixture of American life: Catching the mail on the fly. Until about 1967 when the US Postal Service switched to airplanes and trucks for mail distribution, Railway Post Office cars were operated at the head end of every passenger train. Mail was sorted en route. At every small town, a mailbag would be hung at the station. As the train passed, a Postal Employee would extend the RPO car's mail hook to grab the mail bag. Mail for that station would be ready in a bag at the door, to be kicked out onto the ground.
The O&StCV's 11:00 am departure for Dresser re-creates this by backing out of the station so that they can catch the mail at track speed. Retired RMS employees staff the RPO, explaining the history and operation to passengers. This is fairly unique - to my knowledge only one other museum in the US re-creates this on a scheduled basis.
View Larger Map
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