Mail by rail
The first public railways commenced in the early nineteenth century. It wasn't long before the Post Office made the most of this new mode of transport. The BPMA Museum collection holds material mostly relating to Travelling Post Offices (TPOs) and transport underground.
TPOs went into operation in 1838. Their clever time-saving methods of sorting and transporting mail at the same time remained in service until 2004.
Despite the relative failure of its precursor, the pneumatic railway, the Post Office proudly opened its own railway in December 1927. This linked all the major London railway stations to the major sorting offices. This enabled mail to cross London swiftly regardless of road congestion above.
Our rail-related material includes badges, handstamps, sorting frames and lots of other equipment as well as an actual TPO railway carriage. We also have many objects linked to rail transport underground. These include signs, labels and two vehicles, one propelled by air, the other by electricity. Most of the material dates from the 20th century.
Here are four examples of objects relating to mail by rail in our collections:
TPO carriage, 1908, accession number: 2007-0064
This carriage has recently been restored. It was used for the 'day up' and 'night down' route between Euston and Holyhead until at least 1940.
Its original number was LNWR 20 (its fleet number). Later it also had the numbers 9520 and then 3227 and then finally M 30244 M.
It was built at Wolverton and still has its original underframe and 4-wheeled bogies. It has been restored to its original colours of carmine lake and flake white.
This carriage features a bag exchange apparatus mechanism. During its working life, this enabled the exchange mail pouches at trackside apparatus stations whilst on the move.
Pneumatic rail car, 1862-1866, accession number: 2004-0138
This pneumatic rail car was used on a pre-cursor to the Post Office (London) Railway.
From 1863 to 1866 the Post Office ran a trial of a system built by the Pneumatic Dispatch Company. Cars like this one were sucked or blown through a tunnel. This extended from Euston station and the Post Office's North-West District Office on Eversholt street.
In 1866 the contract with the Pneumatic Dispatch Company was terminated and the trial finished.
Switch frame from the railway platform at Mount Pleasant, c.1927, accession number: 2006-0155/1
Representative of a mail transport system virtually unknown to the public, this switch frame was installed at Mount Pleasant for the opening of Mail Rail in 1927. It was used to control all the train movements in and out of the station. It showed whether sections of track were clear and enabled the operator to direct the trains.
The switch frame was replaced by computers in the 1990s. It remained where is was until BPMA retrieved it in 2006.
Bag label, 1986-1991, accession number: 2005-14/131
This is an example of a bag label from a TPO. These were a special type of label produced exclusively for TPOs. The hole punched at either end means that they can be hung from a special peg.
Each of the TPO routes had their own dedicated labels. This is a label from the Rotherham route. The 'Up' part means that it is for the return journey from Rotherham to London. All trains leaving London were referred to as 'Down' and those returning to London as 'Up'.
