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How they used to do it
Jun. 13th, 2010 07:55 amThe heartbeat of rural mail exchange for small towns across the middle of America at least up through WWII relied upon transport by rail. First class mail traveled on passenger trains, which maintained regular schedules. Outbound mail going in the direction of a train with a postal facility on board was suspended in a mail bag from a trackside pole. A worker on board the moving train used a special hook to snatch the bag and simultaneously dumped the inbound mail bag onto the platform. This operation was carried out hundreds of times a day, often while the trains were traveling at 70 to 80 miles per hour.
This weekend the Illinois Railway Museum, a few miles down the road from our farm, celebrated the history of the Railroad Post Office. I was able to get a fairly clear video of the mail exchange operation, which I'm told actually requires that the train be moving at a fairly high speed. Too slow and gravity overcomes inertia, causing the mail bag to fall from the hook before it can be retrieved. I never post video, but I hope I've done this successfully.
This weekend the Illinois Railway Museum, a few miles down the road from our farm, celebrated the history of the Railroad Post Office. I was able to get a fairly clear video of the mail exchange operation, which I'm told actually requires that the train be moving at a fairly high speed. Too slow and gravity overcomes inertia, causing the mail bag to fall from the hook before it can be retrieved. I never post video, but I hope I've done this successfully.
