RPO and International Trains

[MidlandMike]

Were there any US RPOs that were attached to international trains that crossed the border to Canada or Mexico ?

[rcdrye]

CN's Grand Trunk line to Portland Maine, and Central Vermont's Ambassador often carried CN RPOs plainly lettered with "United States Mail Railway Post Office" (CV also had some RPOs of its own, but GT used CN cars almost exclusively).  The stamps that I have seen for them include "Island Pond and Portland RPO" and "Alburgh and Boston RPO".  Since both Island Pond and Alburgh are border towns it seems plausible that the Montreal-bound trains continued over the border with them, especially since CV trains to Montreal did their last crew change at St.. Albans.  D&H had a large collection of storage mail (non-RPO) cars, Further west, the GN had two Baggage-Mail cars built for the International between Seattle and Vancouver which clearly contained an RPO.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1902100

 

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

The RPO cars may have crossed the border, but I doubt that the clerks did.  I would assume that any sorting would have been completed by the time the border was reached and the RPO would have been closed and locked upon reaching the last stop in the United States.

[NP Eddie]

I know that the GN's Winnipeg Limited had an RPO car on the head end of the train leaving St. Paul. This car was set out at Noyes, Minnesota (the border point). It would seem for operating convenience that this car should have been carried to Winnipeg as the car might have been turned at Noyes.

Ed Burns

Retired NP-BN-BNSF from Minneapolis

[wjstix]

I seem to remember reading the Duluth Winnipeg & Pacific's passenger train from Winnipeg to Duluth used to carry an RPO lettered for parent road Canadian National, but also lettered "United States Mail / Railway Post Office". My guess is the train from Winnipeg would have mail loaded in it and the car sealed, and US RPO clerks would board the train at International Falls and work the mail on the way to Duluth??