baggage/ mail

[Anonymous]

I've been looking at a few consist lists for NYC, and on alot of them there is a combine that consists of baggage & mail but I cannot find thee Ive found combines with passenger & baggage or just baggage or just RPO so does anyone know of a company that produces this kind of car? preferably 11950's smoothside but heavyweights are always nice to.

[GN-Rick]

Baggage/mail cars are usually simply baggage cars outfitted inside for mail
storage and/or handling, as well as baggage as the needs arise. Externally,
they look just like other baggage cars except that they are often lettered
'Railway Express Agency' or something similar. The Great Northern Railway
also had a large group of this type of car-as did others-and that's how they
were identified. Therefore you can use just about any baggage car model
for this service, just letter appropriately.

[orsonroy]

Walthers makes full baggage and full RPOs in both heavyweight and streamlined. IHC makes full baggage and full RPOs, as do Athearn, Rivarossi, AHM, Funaro & Carmelengo, Bethelehem Car Works, LaBelle....frankly, almost anyone who makes passenger cars has at least one full baggage and one full RPO in their inventory someplace.

[jrbernier]

RPO cars are not just bagage cars fitted out for mail handling. The Post office was very specific about the mail compartment. This why one sees reference to 15' or 30' RPO sections. One of the most popular cars was the 60' RPO with 2 30' RPO's in it.
There were also a lot of 70' combination RPO/Bagg cars built. These could either have the baggage section for passenger use, or sometimes there was access to the RPO section and bagged mail was moved in/out of this area as it was sorted.
When I was a kid, one of my neighbors was an RPO clerk on the St Paul-Winnipeg route over the Great Northern. RPO clerks had to qualify for railway service, and had to 'test out' sorting mail while in transit. They also could be armed, and were the only people in the RPO car. The 'Winnipeger' ran with a pair of RPO/Baggage cars and later had a TOFC pigyback car carrying storage mail as well. Back in the 60's, one could ride passenger trains between St Paul and Mpls(10 miles) for 32 cents. I would spend the day taking pictures of the trains at St Paul Union Depot, or ride trains back and forth.
Many times I would 'mail' a postcard by dropping it in the 'mail slot' on the RPO before the train left. It was sort of neat getting the post card back a couple of days later cancelled with the 'St Paul & Winnepeg' or St Paul and Grand Forks' markings. The post card travelled many miles only to return to St Paul and got about 8 miles out in the country to my parents home.

Jim Bernier

[IRONROOSTER]

The Railway Express Agency was not part of the post office. It was a package delivery service using trains not unlike UPS is today. In addition to using the railroads' baggage/express cars, it had it's own cars carried by passenger trains. These were usually reefers or boxcars (later piggy backs) with passenger car trucks.
Enjoy
Paul

[palallin]

Walthers used to have the car you're looking for in O; I don't know about HO. It was one of their wood-framemeta-sides kits.

[Anonymous]

thankyou everyone I think I figured it out, there are 2 baggage express cars in the consist as well( that's where REA comes in?) then theres a mail & baggage car thats 60' long with a 30' compartment for each. this is actually part of a TCR consist from 1954 but its basically the same as the NYC consist.


BE Baggage-Express --- 199 --- --- --- 65' 4" 70+ .086 16.15 1
BE Baggage-Express --- 201, 202, 204 --- --- --- 60' 60-70 .067 13.50 3
MB Baggage & Mail --- 449 - 452 --- 30 30 --- 60-70 .133 21.85 3

[Anonymous]

since there are 3 of the baggage mail carsI 'm thinking about just having an RPO and then a baggage car.

[cefinkjr]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jadormdrache

since there are 3 of the baggage mail carsI 'm thinking about just having an RPO and then a baggage car.

Unless you're trying to model a particular train as it appeared on a specific date, you've got the right idea.

Passenger consists varied a great deal from one day to the next and particularly in the area of "head end equipment". RPO, mail storage, express, and baggage car requirements varied with the day of the week and the season; railroads adjusted consists accordingly. There was also the need to move empty cars in anticipation of their being needed later.

Chuck

[Anonymous]

hmmm, what are good companies to buy smoothside lightweight/heavyweight cars from tho?

[BRAKIE]

Something that is overlooked...These baggage/mail cars also carried REA shipments..It was not uncommon to see 4-5 baggage/mail/express cars in a normal passenger train..