Post by irishjack on Nov 30, 2014 18:59:47 GMT
TPO Travelling Post Office
Just found this video, a little gem.
Its a documentary about the last run of the mail train.
A little scripted but well made, plenty of information on how the TPO worked.
A few great story's about the life of the workers on the train.
I borrowed the following from AnPost
The first train in Ireland ran between Dublin and Dun Laoghaire or Kingstown as it was then known. The Post Office was quick to see that railways would be very useful for transporting mail and as the railway network grew, the old mail coaches were replaced. In 1855, the Post Office started to use special sorting carriages or Travelling Post Offices on trains. Post Office staff would work on sorting the letters as the train travelled on its way and mail bags were dropped off and collected as the trains sped to their destinations. Trains had a special net for catching mail bags that were hung out for collection on the route and a similar net and would catch the sorted bags for the different villages on the way. The Travelling Post Office was a great system and served the country for nearly one hundred and fifty years. It helped to speed up the mail and also to develop rural towns as business owners were able to send and receive correspondence and packages more easily.
The video is in two parts
