FINALE FOR THE RPO
by SAMUEL L. JAMES
On June 30, 1977 an important era in railroad and postal history ended when the New York & Washington Railway Post Office made its final runs, ending 113 years of continuous Railway Post Office service in the United States.
The end began with a terse announcement from the Postal Service in March 1977 that effective June 30 RPO trains 3 and 4 between New York and Washington would be discontinued. For the past few years the "Wash. Line" contract had been on a oneyear renewal basis and the expiration date was the end of June. These two Conrail trains were the last remaining RPO runs in the U.S. And the Postal Service's solitary RPO line since 1972. The "New York & Wash." as it was commonly known was the second RPO route to be established in America, commencing service on October 15, 1864 just five months after the first such route was inaugurated on the Chicago & North Western Railway between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa.
Since 1972 southbound train No. 3 has departed from New York on its 226mile run at 11:40 PM, stopping at Newark, Philadelphia 30th Street and Baltimore, arriving in Washington at 4:05 AM. Northbound train No. 4 departed Washington at 10 PM, arriving in New York at 2:50 AM after making the same station stops as train No. 3. No mail was picked up or thrown off at speed. Although the allelectric New York to Washington stretch of the Northeast Corridor is a completely Amtrakowned piece of railroad, these two trains were operated by Conrail.
In their 113year history RPO cars operated in every conceivable type of train from the classiest streamliners to the most obscure shortline mixeds. Almost every railroad had RPO service, from the Maine twofoot narrowgauges to the broadgauge Panama Railroad. At various times RPO's operated as well on city streetcar routes, interurban lines, coastal and lake steamboat routes. It is interesting to note that the final RPO route outlived the Highway Post Office by three years. HPO service lasted only 33 years while the RPO service existed for almost 114 years.
It was a warm evening shortly after midnight on Friday, July 1 as this writer joined a considerable crowd gathered near track 3 at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station, awaiting the imminent arrival of Conrail trains 3 and 4. The faithful consisted of railfans (including many NRHS members), postal officials, postal fans and retired RPO personnel. Many brought letters to receive a last RPO cancellation.
Approximately ten minutes ahead of schedule No. 4 rolled in at 12:25 AM behind Amtrak GG 1 No. 901, followed by the usual consist of two ex-PRR class B60 baggage cars, two lightweight ExPER class BM85 RPO's (five such cars were rebuilt in the 1960's from postwar BaggageDorms), and on the rear a rather seedylooking Amtrak stainless steel coach. All except the coach were in peeling Penn Central green but had obviously been run through the washer for this historic occasion.
After the customary loading and unloading functions were completed there was handshaking, farewell greetings, final cancellations and the posing of a group crew picture beside the RPO car. At 12:45 AM it was highball and No. 4 was underway again on its last northbound trip to oblivion. After No. 4 departed the crowd moved to platform 5 to await the arrival of train No. 3 due at 1:19 AM.
Precisely on the advertised No. 3 rolled in with a classic consist: on the point was GG 1 No. 4935 resplendent in its new PER paint scheme followed by the usual two B60 baggage cars, two ExPRR class BM70 RPO's (the standard PER heavyweight millionplusmile veterans so familiar on PER passenger consists for at least 50 years) and an Amtrak coach on the rear. Not only did the 4935 look beautiful but the four headend cars seemed right out of the paint shop in Penn Central green complete with PC lettering and insignias.
Needless to say this was a smartlooking consist and it was unfortunate that the run wasn't made in daylight so that it could be adequately photographed. The same farewell scene was repeated as had ensued with train 4. Then promptly at 1:34 AM No. 3 was on the move and that last lonely journey into postal history was underway. It was noted that the lights in one RPO were just barely glowing; this typified the condition of the cars in the last few years when maintenance was almost nil, and the crews constantly complaining of lighting and heating failures.
The Postal Service rose to the occasion and properly commemorated this historic event. Special cachets were issued for mail posted on the last trips of trains 3 and 4, an elaborate press kit was issued and prior to the trains' departures from New York and Washington ceremonies were held at trainside. At New York the postmaster general presided and at Washington the deputy postmaster general spoke. At the conclusion of the speeches the crewmen's names were called and each man presented with a memento of his final trip, a handsome wooden commemorative plaque with a last trip cover affixed.
Illustrations:
U.S. Postal Service
A contemporary view shows postal clerks at work in a Railway Post Office car on the
"Wash. Line." The southbound train to Washington departed New York City each
night at 11:40, stopped briefly in Newark, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and arrived in
Washington at 4:05 A.M. Its counterpart left Washington at 10 each night, stopping in
Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Newark before arriving in New York City at 2:50 in the
morning. The Postal Service has replaced the RPO trains with two additional highway
trips and one rail trip daily in each direction. Mail is transported but not sorted on these
runs.
U.S. Postal Service
ExPenn Central Railway Post Office Car 6597 is loaded in Washington's Union Station on Track 27. In a short time it will roll north to New York in Conrail's Train No. 4. The WashingtonNew York Railway Post Office, involving two fourcar trains on which mail was sorted, has been the Postal Service's solitary RPO run since 1972. It began operating on October 15, 1864, two months after the original RPO service was inaugurated between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa.
U.S. Postal Service
A typical 60' RPO car interior scene during the 1940's. RPO's also came in two other sizes with 15' and 30' compartments. The first Railway Post Office was put in operation between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa, on the Chicago and North Western Railway on August 28, 1864. At one time shortly after World War II, there were 1,500 RPO routes crisscrossing the U.S., with 30,000 men working more than 4,000 individual RPO cars. By 1961 the number of routes had declined to 262. Ten years later there were only eight routes still in operation.
[No caption; this is an illustration of a cachted cover with a rubber-stamped postmark from the last run of the New York & Washington RPO. Covers postmarked aboard the train have markings from the steel handstamps; most covers were postmarked with rubber devices off-the train, then backstamped with a canceling machine imprint. Train 3 covers have a Washington, DC cancellation on the reverse side, while train 4 covers bear a New York, NY marking.]
Above: Burlington Lines
Below: Chicago & North Western
RPO's continued to be built into the streamlined era. The mail crane and catcher arm provided service to small communities. In some instances on multipletrack lines, the crane extended far enough to reach an inner track. Below, another interior view. Clerks are: E. J. Wehrle, C. W. Carpenter, D. M. Osmund, T. J. Buddy, R. Burt and W. C. Selden.
SOURCE:NATIONAL RAILWAY BULLETIN, Vol. 42, No. 5, 1977. Pages 28-31, 47.
frs\FINALE77.WPDCreated July 13, 2000