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A Travelling Post Office (TPO) is a type of mail
Mail

Mail, or post, is a method for transmitting information and tangible objects, wherein written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages, are delivered to destinations around the world....
 train where the post is sorted en-route. TPO is a UK term. In the USA, the equivalent is Railway Post Office
Railway post office

In the United States a railway post office, commonly abbreviated as RPO, was a railroad car that was normally operated in passenger service as a means to sort mail en route, in order to speed delivery....
 (RPO).

owing an agreement in 1830, made between the General Post Office and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway
Liverpool and Manchester Railway

The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the world's first inter-city passenger railway in which all the trains were timetabled and were hauled for most of the distance solely by steam locomotives....
 (L&MR), mail had been carried by train in Great Britain
Great Britain

Great Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the List of islands by area, and the largest in Europe. With a population of 58.9 million people it is List of islands by population....
, between Liverpool
Liverpool

Liverpool [] is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a History of borough status in England and Wales in 1207 and was granted City status in the United Kingdom in 1880....
 and Manchester
Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. Manchester was granted City status in the United Kingdom in 1853....
, via the L&MR. The passing of the Railways (Conveyance of Mails) Act 1838
Railways (Conveyance of Mails) Act 1838

The Railways Act 1838 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, signed into law on August 14, 1838. It required the transport of the Royal Mail by railways at a standardised fee....
 required railway companies to carry mail, by ordinary or special trains, as required by the Post Master General; however this act did not set the charges for such services.

These special trains eventually became Travelling Post Offices (TPOs).






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Nsa 80390 'ernie Gosling' At Doncaster Works
A Travelling Post Office (TPO) is a type of mail
Mail

Mail, or post, is a method for transmitting information and tangible objects, wherein written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages, are delivered to destinations around the world....
 train where the post is sorted en-route. TPO is a UK term. In the USA, the equivalent is Railway Post Office
Railway post office

In the United States a railway post office, commonly abbreviated as RPO, was a railroad car that was normally operated in passenger service as a means to sort mail en route, in order to speed delivery....
 (RPO).

Carriage of mail by train

Following an agreement in 1830, made between the General Post Office and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway
Liverpool and Manchester Railway

The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the world's first inter-city passenger railway in which all the trains were timetabled and were hauled for most of the distance solely by steam locomotives....
 (L&MR), mail had been carried by train in Great Britain
Great Britain

Great Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the List of islands by area, and the largest in Europe. With a population of 58.9 million people it is List of islands by population....
, between Liverpool
Liverpool

Liverpool [] is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a History of borough status in England and Wales in 1207 and was granted City status in the United Kingdom in 1880....
 and Manchester
Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. Manchester was granted City status in the United Kingdom in 1853....
, via the L&MR. The passing of the Railways (Conveyance of Mails) Act 1838
Railways (Conveyance of Mails) Act 1838

The Railways Act 1838 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, signed into law on August 14, 1838. It required the transport of the Royal Mail by railways at a standardised fee....
 required railway companies to carry mail, by ordinary or special trains, as required by the Post Master General; however this act did not set the charges for such services.

These special trains eventually became Travelling Post Offices (TPOs). TPOs were employed in many British Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, also known as the Commonwealth or the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organization of fifty-three independent member states....
 countries; and the Army Post Office had its own TPOs.

TPOs were equipped with letter boxes so that mail could be posted whilst the train stood at a station. The post-marks from TPOs are valued by philatelists.

History

Mail was first sorted on a moving train in January 1838, in a converted horse-box, on Endland's
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 Grand Junction Railway
Grand Junction Railway

The Grand Junction Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846. The line built by the company was the first trunk railway to be completed in England, and arguably the world's first long-distance railway....
. It was carried out at the suggestion of Frederick Karstadt, a General Post Office surveyor. Karstadt's son was one of two mail clerks who did the sorting. In 1845 the service was extended via Derby
Derby

Derby is a city status in the United Kingdom in the East Midlands region of England in the United Kingdom. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent, Derbyshire and is located in the south of the non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire....
 to Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a City status in the United Kingdom and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Situated on the north bank of the River Tyne, the city developed from a Roman Empire settlement called Pons Aelius, though it owes its name to the Newcastle Castle built in 1080, by Robert Curthose, the eldest son of...
 by the Midland Railway
Midland Railway

The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed from 1844 to 1922 when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
; and soon after reached Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
.

The first special postal train was operated by the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway was a History of rail transport in Great Britain that linked London with the south west and west of England and most of Wales....
 between London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 and Bristol
Bristol

Bristol is a City status in the United Kingdom, unitary authority area and Ceremonial counties of England in South West England, west of London, and east of Cardiff....
. The inaugural train ran on 1 February 1855, leaving Paddington station
Paddington station

London Paddington station, also known as London Paddington, or just simply Paddington, is a major National Rail and London Underground station complex in the Paddington area near central London, England....
 at 20:46, and arriving at Bristol at 00:30. In 1866, apparatus for picking up and setting down mailbags without stopping was installed at Slough
Slough

Slough is a Borough status in the United Kingdom and unitary authority area within the Ceremonial counties of England of Berkshire, England, situated west of London....
 and Maidenhead
Maidenhead

Maidenhead is a town within the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It lies on the River Thames and is situated west of Charing Cross in London....
.

Post-privatisation of British Rail

After the privatisation of British Rail
British Rail

British Railways , which later traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the Rail transport in Great Britain from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1948 until Privatisation of British Rail in stages from 1994 to 1997....
 in the mid 1990s, British TPOs were operated most recently by Rail Express Systems
Rail Express Systems

Upon the sectorisation of British Rail during the 1980s the Parcels Sector was created. In 1991 this was rebranded Rail Express Systems....
, and their successor EWS
EWS

English, Welsh and Scottish Railway Ltd was the largest United Kingdom rail freight company; created as a result of the break-up of British Rail during the 1990s....
. On 9 January 2004 Royal Mail
Royal Mail

Royal Mail is the national mail of the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turns operates the brands Royal Mail , Parcelforce and General Logistics Systems....
 decided to suspend transporting mail by rail. However, Royal Mail reversed this decision over the Christmas season that year; and began operating some TPO trains with EWS's competitor FirstGBRf, then known as GB Railfreight.

TPO vehicles

TPOs are formed of several different types of vehicle:

  • Post Office Sorting Van
    Post Office Sorting Van

    A Post Office Sorting Van is a type of rail vehicle built for use in a Travelling Post Office .British Rail built ninety-six of these vehicles between 1959 and 1977, to several similar designs, all based on the British Railways Mark 1....
  • Post Office Stowage Van
    Post Office Stowage Van

    A Post Office Stowage Van is a type of rail vehicle built for use in a Travelling Post Office . Several of these have passed into preservation as they are very useful for storage on the railways....
  • Brake Post Office Stowage Van
    Brake Post Office Stowage Van

    A Brake Post Office Stowage Van is a type of rail vehicle built for use in a Travelling Post Office .British Rail built nine of these vehicles between 1959 and 1968, to two similar designs, both based on the British Railways Mark 1....
  • Courier Vehicle
  • Propelling Control Vehicle
    Propelling Control Vehicle

    A Propelling Control Vehicle is a type of British railway carriage for carrying mail. They were converted from British Rail Class 307 driving trailers and have a cab at one end....
  • Brake Guard
  • General Utility Van
    General Utility Van

    A General Utility Van is a type of rail vehicle built by British Rail and its predecessors, which was primarily used for transporting mail and parcels....


See also

  • Great Central Steam Railway - where the Travelling Post Office and Mail Exchange on the Move is recreated
  • Great Train Robbery (1963)
    Great Train Robbery (1963)

    The Great Train Robbery is the name given to a ?2.6 million train robbery committed on 8 August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England....
     in which £2.3 million was stolen from a Glasgow to London TPO train
  • Night Mail
    Night Mail

    Night Mail is a 1936 in film documentary film about a London, Midland and Scottish Railway Travelling Post Office from London to Scotland, produced by the GPO Film Unit....
     - Film and Poem about Travelling Post Office
  • Railways (Conveyance of Mails) Act 1838
    Railways (Conveyance of Mails) Act 1838

    The Railways Act 1838 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, signed into law on August 14, 1838. It required the transport of the Royal Mail by railways at a standardised fee....
  • Railway post office
    Railway post office

    In the United States a railway post office, commonly abbreviated as RPO, was a railroad car that was normally operated in passenger service as a means to sort mail en route, in order to speed delivery....
     - The term for cars in North America
    North America

    North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
    n use that served similar functions.
  • SNCF TGV La Poste
    SNCF TGV La Poste

    The SNCF TGV La Poste trains were built by Alstom between 1978?1986. These TGV units are essentially SNCF TGV Sud-Est trainsets that are modified for transporting mail for the French postal carrier La Poste ....
     - French Post Office dedicated TGV sets.


External links



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