I would guess that they are railroad employees but have taken the post office exam. When I was in the navy, the ship's postal clerk was in the navy but had to take the post office exam so make of that what you will. Here's a story about him. I was walking by the ship's post office and he asked me for a cigarette. I said that I didn't smoke. He said, "Neither do I" and showed me a pile of cigarettes on the counter. He asked everyone that walked by for a smoke, just for amusement. Didn't have enough to do, obviously.
Another thing- When the ship would be tied up in, say, Barcelona occasionally American tourists came aboard to mail packages home. They paid the same rate as they would at home and whatever they sent was not subject to customs. I sent a box of Cuban cigars home that way with no problem at all.
About switching out, I really don't know.
From what I've read, they were considered Federal employees, and I believe there were cards in RPOs, some of which survive in museum cars, noting that interference with them or their business was a Federal offense.
Here's an amusing page I hadn't seen before:
https://postalmuseum.si.edu/research-articles/the-railway-mail-service-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-railway-post-office-clerk/rpo
They were federal post office employees, and their job description in the RPO service required they carry a side arm, generally a .38
Sheldon
My understanding is the same as Sheldon's. US Post Office employees.
I don't have any idea what their work routine was. But I'm guessing they worked several hours in one direction, were replaced, then worked the next RPO heading back to their home terminal. But that's just a guess, and I too would be interested in knowing how it worked.
It was probably distance based, just like the train crew.
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
It was a very long disance for some crews. From what little i have. I had a great uncle who worked from Bristol, Va to Washington DC. usually on train # 42 and train #41 back. It was different south of Bristol as the Memphis trains changed both RPO crews and mail cars at Chattanooga. The CHA - MEM RPO car had much smaller capacity. RPO crews had to come on duty early at CHA to work in the mail cars. That also included the locals than ran from CHA to MEM< BHM< ATL. The train to New Orleans Changed RPO crews at Birminham.
As far as I can tell both SOU and the West point , L&N routes ATL - NOL was one crew district.
I cannot imagine what it was like during heavy mail times at Christmas with hours late trains on the routes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DefYYPw1tNI
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Great video, a reminder of life before computers.
About 15 years ago, I knew an old fellow, about 105 years old, who had worked for 50 years the mail car from Bangor, Maine to Portland, Maine and had memorized 500 Maine town names (pre zip code days) so that all his mail was sorted by the end of his run. I assume he worked the opposite train to return to Bangor. Very different world!
northeasterAbout 15 years ago, I knew an old fellow, about 105 years old, who had worked for 50 years the mail car from Bangor, Maine to Portland, Maine and had memorized 500 Maine town names (pre zip code days) so that all his mail was sorted by the end of his run. I assume he worked the opposite train to return to Bangor. Very different world!
Don't forget telephones - before the days of dials, let alone push buttons or tones.
My Grandfathers phone number when I was a kid - Severna Park 45. When his phone system was upgraded to being a dial system and the Exchange Operator was done away with - his last 4 digits ended up being 4545.
BaltACD northeaster About 15 years ago, I knew an old fellow, about 105 years old, who had worked for 50 years the mail car from Bangor, Maine to Portland, Maine and had memorized 500 Maine town names (pre zip code days) so that all his mail was sorted by the end of his run. I assume he worked the opposite train to return to Bangor. Very different world! Don't forget telephones - before the days of dials, let alone push buttons or tones. My Grandfathers phone number when I was a kid - Severna Park 45. When his phone system was upgraded to being a dial system and the Exchange Operator was done away with - his last 4 digits ended up being 4545.
northeaster About 15 years ago, I knew an old fellow, about 105 years old, who had worked for 50 years the mail car from Bangor, Maine to Portland, Maine and had memorized 500 Maine town names (pre zip code days) so that all his mail was sorted by the end of his run. I assume he worked the opposite train to return to Bangor. Very different world!
Severna Park - that's where I am from.
I remember when the phone exchange started with two letters. In Severna Park MI7-6586 was out phone number.
ATLANTIC CENTRALI remember when the phone exchange started with two letters.
My telephone was LOWELL-7-3809. My grandparents in Kingston, PA had BUTLER-7-6945.
I was told there was lots of fun in suburban Philadelphia where CYNWYD was used and people thought it was spelled as spoken to them...
For some reason, I still remember the phone # we had in Dallas when I was 9. DA7-5973. Probably I remember because it was the first phone number I ever knew.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL BaltACD northeaster About 15 years ago, I knew an old fellow, about 105 years old, who had worked for 50 years the mail car from Bangor, Maine to Portland, Maine and had memorized 500 Maine town names (pre zip code days) so that all his mail was sorted by the end of his run. I assume he worked the opposite train to return to Bangor. Very different world! Don't forget telephones - before the days of dials, let alone push buttons or tones. My Grandfathers phone number when I was a kid - Severna Park 45. When his phone system was upgraded to being a dial system and the Exchange Operator was done away with - his last 4 digits ended up being 4545. Severna Park - that's where I am from. I remember when the phone exchange started with two letters. In Severna Park MI7-6586 was out phone number. Sheldon
As I recall - Severna Park wasn't upgraded to dial phones until the late 1950's, much later than the rest of the Baltimore area - at least the areas I was familiar with.
I was born in 1957, graduated Severna Park High class of 75. Lived in that part of AA County most of my childhood.
It was still pretty rural into the early 70's, not so much now. I have been in Harford Co for the last 26 years.
BaltACD As I recall - Severna Park wasn't upgraded to dial phones until the late 1950's...
I was in college then so not long after 1975...
ATLANTIC CENTRALI was born in 1957, graduated Severna Park High class of 75. Lived in that part of AA County most of my childhood. It was still pretty rural into the early 70's, not so much now. I have been in Harford Co for the last 26 years. Sheldon
At Severna Park HS my Uncle was the Principal for many years.
Overmod ATLANTIC CENTRAL I remember when the phone exchange started with two letters. That were the start of a word. My telephone was LOWELL-7-3809. My grandparents in Kingston, PA had BUTLER-7-6945. I was told there was lots of fun in suburban Philadelphia where CYNWYD was used and people thought it was spelled as spoken to them...
ATLANTIC CENTRAL I remember when the phone exchange started with two letters.
That were the start of a word.
When I was really little, my parents had a two party line with just a two letter prefix (WH)+4 digits. Then it became WH8, then MO8 then 668, remaining the same until they passed.
How many of you young whippersnappers remember picking up the phone, hearing the operator say "number please", and telling her the number?
_____________
"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
Paul of Covington How many of you young whippersnappers remember picking up the phone, hearing the operator say "number please", and telling her the number?
blue streak 1Some of you may remember that dial tone had to change to allow touch tone to work!
(That was when there was still just one telephone mandated for each line and supposedly dire consequences would ensue if you made any changes to the premise wiring, let alone added your own extension phone. That alone seems like a whole other world now...
I'm not young anymore and I do remember that. It was just prior to area codes and Dad had to dial the operator to call relatives in Hammond Indiana.
Overmod. There was a quick way to add extensions that the telephone company could not detect. Curious ?
blue streak 1Overmod. There was a quick way to add extensions that the telephone company could not detect. Curious ?
And then the phone company stopped supplying phones and you had to go out and buy your own.
RIP Western Electric
blue streak 1 Overmod. There was a quick way to add extensions that the telephone company could not detect. Curious ?
You had to disconect the non rented phone's ringer from the line. The Central Office could measure the number of ringers on the line.
Our "number" was Woodland WO5-5125 when I was a kid. My grandmother was a telephone pioneer, with Ma Bell as an operator. In retirement she had free long distance from her phone. There are days what with telemarketers and being hogtied to smart phones that I could go back to earlier times.
Electroliner 1935You had to disconect the non rented phone's ringer from the line. The Central Office could measure the number of ringers on the line.
A roommate then discovered not only that you could wire up 'ringerless' extensions using ordinary two-prong plugs and outlets, but also that it didn't matter which way was 'up' (this was the era before mandatory polarized plugs. As part of the final "People Magazine Ten Best College Rooms" prospective room, pity that was never published, we had Tap-A-Lines wired around most of what remained of the furniture to simplify conversation, a kind of early version of the 'cordless phone experience'...
One of the funniest moments came at some point that year, when the roommate had an extensive cable of interconnections running between his room and mine to access the Strowger switch I had running many of the 'smart-home' features like curtains and lighting control ... another story. I was fast asleep in my raised bed when I heard knocking on the door -- when I went to answer it, there stood the Bell repairman in full regalia, saying there was something wrong with the phone. I turned around, and the first thing I saw was the two phone carcasses with various wires and components sticking out, and the second thing several 'extensions' plugged into Tap-A-Lines ... I thought we'd lose our phone service and be in debt to Ma Bell for decades over this!
Reasoning quickly, I figured Arthur had to be the source of the 'issue', so I let the repairman in and said "I think I can fix the actual problem pretty quickly" and reached up and tore down the line out of his suite. The repairman put his meters on and said 'Yep - that did it' ... and then turned his attention to the ringers. He was silent for a few minutes, and then said what I defectively remember as 'You know, if you put a capacitor between here' ... pointing to a particular spot in the wangled mess ...'and here' ... pointing to another, 'you'd get better results'. (He might, in fact, have said to wire a Zener in exactly the spot to avoid some of the charges!) I knew then we were going to live, and that Bell service was not a faceless monopoly...
Back to the RPOs...my dad's first job with the US Post Office when he started in 1943 was going from the downtown Minneapolis main post office to pick up mail coming in on mail trains at the nearby Great Northern and Milwaukee Road depots. In the 1980s we bowled together on a team in the Minneapolis Post Office bowling league with a teammate who was a retired RPO clerk.
BTW part of the reason my dad, who pretty soon after starting working for the Post Office became a Letter Carrier, never became a supervisor was that when the mail was taken off of the rails, all the RPO clerks were assigned to regular postal jobs. Because of their high pay scale, usually the only job they could be assigned to would be as a supervisor at a station (post office), even though they usually knew nothing about how a regular station worked.
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