Re: C&S RPO 11: More details

Posted by Mike Trent on Nov 04, 2018; 1:35pm
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/C-S-RPO-11-Linn-Moedinger-s-Shapeways-Print-in-Sn3-and-Hon3-tp12427p12617.html

Jim and Keith and all, thanks for all the updates on these Baggage/Postal cars. I've been real busy with work recently an am catching up on some of this stuff.

Jim, one of the things you wrote that struck a chord with me was the comment about no postal service West of Como after 1929. I was unaware of that. Some time ago, we discussed the odd practice of running the Postal cars backwards as was clearly done. The number of photos in recent years which show the postal end forward, as it should be according to the Mail Contract, and the baggage end first seem to be half and half. As I recall, we concluded that the train was not turned in Leadville in later years, but was just switched so the coach was in the rear, with the seats flipped forward.

If there was no mail service West of Como, but the car itself continued in the train, there would have been no contractual reason to run the postal end forward, and could simply have been random from however the train was switched in Como.

Or, perhaps none of this means anything at all. But it is an interesting aside.

Other contractual requirements of Postal Cars were removal of end platforms, the cast steel trucks with inboard brakes, the blind end on the postal end of the car, and steel reinforcing in both the postal end wall, with fire retardant treatment, and the underframe.

This accounts for much of the similarity in appearance of the C&S and orher postal cars, such as on the D&RGW.