THE TRAVELLING POST OFFICE
Something of the old romance of the service lingers about the Travelling
Post Office. To those who work it there is always a possibility of
adventure, not to mention the risk to life and limb, while to those who
watch its operations there is that indefinable element which makes an
appeal to the imagination. Moreover, in more than one of its features it
links up our time with the old mail coach days. There are pictures in
existence of the mail coach passing through a village or hamlet, and the
mail bag is being handed out from the upper windows of the local post
office to the guard of the coach. The driver is reducing his speed while
the exchange is taking place, and the suggestion of the picture is that
no time is to be lost. The same idea is carried out to-day by means of
mechanical appliances. Indeed, so soon as the mail train came into
being, the minds of officials were at once exercised how to maintain the
old system of exchange under altered conditions. The early effects were
scarcely ingenious, and were obviously dangerous. The experiment was
tried of hoisting up the bags towards the railway guards on long poles,
but after one guard had had his eye poked out, and others had suffered
from severe falls while endeavouring to secure the bags, it was felt
that the business placed too severe a strain on human endeavour. Under
this clumsy arrangement it was necessary for the train to reduce its
speed, and it was not only, I am afraid, to preserve the guards from
injury, but also to prevent delay during the process of exchange, that
the efforts of inventors were directed. But before I proceed to describe
the ingenious apparatus which is in operation to-day, and which is on
practically the same lines as that invented more than seventy years ago,
I must deal with the Travelling Post Office itself.
As early as 1837, when railways were yet in their infancy, it was
suggested to the Post Office by Frederick Karstadt, a son of one of the
surveyors of the Department, that much time would be saved if some of
the necessary business of sorting and preparation for delivery of
letters were performed on the train. On the 6th January 1838, a carriage
was run as an experiment on the railway between Birmingham and
Liverpool. The carriage used for the purpose was simply a horse-box
temporarily fitted up as a sorting office. The experiment was decided to
be a success, not only by officials, but by the press and the public. In
the words of an enthusiastic writer at the time, “Here is a specimen of
the exhaustless ingenuity which bids fair to annihilate time and space,
an improvement which enables the Post Office to work practically double
tides—in other words, to duplicate time by travelling and working at the
same instant.” We smile at writing of this kind in these days, when the
familiarity of the operations has robbed us of all sense of wonder, but
the language is not very different from what we frequently hear to-day
when the achievements of the aeroplane or wireless telegraphy are
recorded. To our grandfathers the Travelling Post Office was a miracle
of the day, and it is not difficult, if we know the social life of that
time, to understand the way in which they must have speculated on its
possibilities.
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[Illustration]
_Photo_ _Herbert Lazenby._
THE TRAVELLING POST OFFICE.
This is the interior of the most recently constructed Great
Northern Railway travelling post office. Notice the exchange
apparatus fittings behind the sorters.
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It was the idea of being able to carry on the ordinary business of life
while travelling from one place to another which appealed to the
imaginations of men whose experiences of travel had been limited to the
cramped conditions of the mail coach. But I doubt whether they could
have conceived of a time when we should breakfast, lunch, dine, and have
comfortable beds on trains running at fifty miles an hour. And one of
the latest developments of all, the providing of lady typists on trains
for the benefit of business men travelling to and from London, would
certainly have justified the enthusiastic prose of an earlier day. We
take these things in a more complacent fashion; we talk of the increased
economy and convenience as meeting a public demand, and we grumble at
the railway which withholds luxuries from us.
There is no doubt, however, that the success of the Travelling Post
Office was the first revelation to the railway companies, and to the
public, of what could be done on a train while in motion, but much was
needed in the direction of improving the permanent way and the springs
and general make-up of the rolling stock before any further advances
could take place. Perhaps on this ground alone we can spare a little
sympathy for the Post Office servants, who during the long years when
railway travelling was neither smooth nor comfortable, had to keep their
heads and their feet while the train raced across country.
The first permanent sorting carriage was built by the Grand Junction
Railway Company, and this carriage was fitted with an apparatus for
exchanging mail bags _en route_. The appliance consisted of an iron
frame covered with netting, and was fixed to the near side of the
carriage. It was made to open out for the purpose of receiving a bag
suspended from the arm of a standard erected beside the railway line.
Simultaneously with the delivery of a bag into the carriage net, a bag
was dropped on to the bare ground by another mechanical contrivance,
guard boards being fixed by the side of the permanent way to prevent the
bag from getting under the wheels of the carriage. This apparatus was
first tried in 1838 on the London and Birmingham Railway at Boxmoor. On
the 17th September 1838, the London and Birmingham Railway was opened
throughout its entire length, and the Travelling Post Office was
permanently established on that line. Two mails were despatched from
Euston daily, the first a day mail at 11 A.M. and the night mail at 8.30
P.M.
The immediate effect of the introduction of the Travelling Post Office
was to render unnecessary the making up of some 800 or 900 bags. Each
town now made up one bag for the train, instead of the fourteen or
fifteen which had to be made up for the mail coach, and the Travelling
Post Office re-sorted the letters and made up bags for the various towns
which it served. In the year 1843 the number of bags made up in the
London and Preston Travelling Post Office down mail was 51 and in the up
mail 44. The number of bags at present made up in the same Travelling
Post Office, which now runs from London to Aberdeen, is nearly 400 on
the down journey and about 300 on the up journey. In 1910 there were in
Great Britain no less than 73 separate Travelling Post Offices, composed
of 150 specially constructed carriages.
In 1848 the apparatus for exchanging letters was considerably altered
and simplified. For the first time nets were fixed by the side of the
permanent way in which were caught the bags delivered from the
Travelling Post Office, and a new variety of winged carriage net was
provided with detaching lines, which were used to grip and detach the
pouch from the arm in which it was held. Many alterations have since
been made in the working of this apparatus, but the principle of the
thing remains the same.
In 1859 as a further means of accelerating the mails “the limited mail”
train was started. Many people have doubtless wondered at this
definition of an express train: they have probably connected it in some
way with the idea of speed, but in reality it was nothing more than the
application of the old regulation of the mail coach days to railway
traffic. That is to say, the mails were to be the first consideration,
and the passenger traffic was to be limited on these trains to the point
where the speed or the availability of the train for mail purposes would
not be interfered with. The first limited mail to run was the night
train to Scotland.
An advance on the idea of the limited mail was made in 1885, when a
special mail train was established on the London and North-Western and
Caledonian Railways. This is a train devoted entirely to the mail
service, and it runs in both directions between London and Aberdeen.
Similar special trains run on the Great Western Railway between London
and Penzance. One of the latest developments of the system is the
provision of a late-fee box on the side of the carriage. The letter-box
on the side of the carriage next to the platform is kept open while the
train is standing in a station. The up-to-date sorting carriages are an
immense improvement on those of the old pattern in the matter of easy
movement. They are constructed with a view to reduce vibration to a
minimum. All projections and angles are well padded, and this precaution
is at all times necessary, as turning a curve at high speed frequently
takes the sorters off their feet and sends them flying into corners or
against the sides of the carriage.
In the new sorting carriages plate-glass bottoms are provided for the
letter-sorting frames to enable the sorters to see at a glance that they
have removed all the correspondence from each box at the time of
despatch. This prevents letters being carried beyond their destination
or left in the carriage at the journey's end.
The duty of each officer is laid down in detail in the “duty book,” as
is also “the plan” or “alphabet” he is to use in sorting the
correspondence, and the order in which the bags are to be hung. Every
man knows exactly what he has to do, and that he must depend upon his
own exertions for the completion of his duty over every stage of the
journey. Space is necessarily limited. Along one side of the letter-vans
are pigeon-holes for sorting purposes, while the opposite side is fitted
with pegs for holding the bags and with the machinery used for the
exchange apparatus.
Upwards of 3,000,000 miles are run annually by Travelling Post Offices
in this country. The largest number are run on the London and
North-Western and Caledonian Railways, amounting in all to 1,800,000
miles. The London night mail is the heaviest mail in the course of the
twenty-four hours. Day mails and mid-day mails are merely subsidiaries
to the larger service. It has been said that “the principal mail train
in the kingdom, perhaps in the whole world, is the Down Postal Express
which leaves Euston every night at 8.30.” It consists entirely of postal
vehicles, and carries thirty Post Office officials, the only
representatives of the railway company being the driver, fireman, and
guard. At Tamworth connection is made with the Midland Travelling Post
Office going north and south and with the Lincoln sorting carriage. At
Carlisle the Caledonian Railway takes on the running. The London
officers are relieved here, and Glasgow and Edinburgh sorters take over
the carriages journeying to these cities. At Perth the train is on the
Highland Railway system, and has a direct run to Aberdeen. At most
important points on the road it connects with cross-country routes.
The Great Western Railway has a similar train which leaves Paddington at
9.5 P.M. and is due at Penzance at 6.45 A.M. The mail is divided for
sorting purposes into five divisions, the fifth being known as the
Cornwall Section. At Reading a large number of bags are exchanged for
the South and Midlands. The London and South-Western Travelling Post
Office is connected here with the Paddington mail.
Travelling Post Offices are attached to the night trains on other lines
from London, and these trains also carry passengers. At 9.13 P.M. there
is a carriage from London Bridge for Brighton and south coast towns. The
Great Eastern trains leaving Liverpool Street for Ipswich and Norwich at
8.50 P.M. and 10.7 P.M. have sorting carriages attached to them. The
continental night mail leaves Cannon Street at 9.5 P.M., and is followed
at 10 P.M. by the South-Eastern Travelling Post Office. There is also a
night mail between Holborn Viaduct and Folkestone in connection with the
Flushing route to the Continent.
The working of the mail bag exchange apparatus is perhaps to the public
the most interesting feature in the Travelling Post Office. I make no
apology, therefore, in giving a detailed description of the contrivance.
The net is made of hemp, the end of which is strengthened by stout
manilla rope in order to enable it better to withstand the shock
subsequent upon the receipt of the pouches. The iron frame of the net is
hinged in two pieces, called the bed and the wing. When extended for use
the net is about two feet seven inches from the panel of the carriage,
and the apex of the wing some nine feet eight inches above rail level.
When not in use the net pulls up nearly flat against the side of the
carriage, and it is lowered into position and raised again by the action
of a lever inside the carriage. The delivery arms are fitted in the
doorways of the carriage, and are hinged to strong iron tubes containing
spiral springs which, when the arms are not required for use, retain
them in an upright position by the door pillars. When a despatch has to
be made the arm is drawn into the carriage, a sort of convex shield,
technically called “a sweep,” determining the angle to which it must be
brought before it can be drawn from its perpendicular position. The mail
bags for delivery are enclosed in a leather pouch for protection against
concussion, and to keep them in a fairly square position when suspended.
Affixed to the pouch is a thick strap about ten inches long, known as a
“drop strap,” and at one end of this there is an eyelet which, when the
arm is drawn into the carriage, is passed on to a pin forming a portion
of the head or box of the arm, which is protected by a spring cover. The
carriage net has to be lowered and the pouches put out for delivery some
distance before the roadside apparatus is reached, and in order to
perform these operations properly an officer has to be well acquainted
with the different landmarks along the permanent way. All sorts of
immovable marks serve for this purpose—houses, churches, bridges, gates,
and clumps of trees. There is a tale told of a white horse which was
seen so regularly every day in a field beside the railway that the
animal became a mark for the official working the apparatus. One day the
horse died, and there were then several bag failures at the particular
station.
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[Illustration]
_Photos by_ _Herbert Lazenby._
THE TRAVELLING POST OFFICE.
(1) The official placing the suspended pouch in position to
be taken up by the passing train.
(2) The pouch suspended and the net open to receive the
pouch from the approaching train.
(3) The pouch has been received into the travelling post
office by means of the net attached to it, while the one
received from the train is seen in the wayside net.
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The work of the officer in charge has to be done in less than twenty
seconds, when the train is going fifty or sixty miles an hour; in this
time he has to lower two pouches, extend the net, and raise it again
after the receipt of the pouch.
The roadside receiving apparatus is made up of a net of stout manilla
rope attached to a framing which consists of a fixed wooden upright and
a hinged iron frame. Both stand up some four feet above the rail level,
and when in position are kept apart by a cross-bar. To this bar the
angle end of a double piece of rope is fastened by means of straps, and
the other ends of the rope are attached, one to the top of the fixed
wooden framing and one to the top of the iron frame, forming a V. This
is struck by the drop strap of the pouch suspended from the delivery arm
of the carriage, and the pouch itself is released, not the net. The
weight of a single pouch, including the bags which it protects, must not
exceed 50 lbs. when despatched from a roadside standard, or 60 lbs. when
despatched from a carriage arm. The man stationed at the roadside
apparatus has to be as alert and careful as the man on the train, and
considering the delicate nature of the work it is wonderful how few
misses or accidents occur. Parcels are, of course, never exchanged in
this way.
The blow sustained by the pouch containing the mail bags at the moment
of delivery when the train is travelling at high speed is exceedingly
severe, and sometimes causes danger to postal packets of a fragile
nature. This explains the following complaint from a member of the
public: “I am sorry to return the bracelet to be repaired. It came this
morning with the box smashed, the bracelet bent, and one of the
cairngorms forced out. Among the modern improvements of the Post Office
appears to be the introduction of sledgehammers to stamp with.” But this
sort of thing seldom happens. Occasionally, however, the pouches miss
the nets and are sent bounding over hedges. Bags have been found at the
end of a journey hanging on to a buffer or on the carriage roof. On one
occasion, at least, the apparatus has been the means of perhaps saving
life. A lamplighter was carried away on the roof of a compartment, and
after he had travelled twenty miles in this uncomfortable fashion it
occurred to him to knock on the roof-light of the Travelling Post
Office. The net was at once lowered, and the man obtained access to the
interior of the carriage.
One of the most curious accidents recorded was that which happened to an
engine driver who climbed out on to his foot-plate on a dark night to
oil his engine. He had forgotten he was near an apparatus station, and
was struck violently against the net. He was in a second hurled into it,
and the mail bag from his own train came banging in on top of him. He
was badly hurt, while the man at the apparatus station must have
received a severe mental shock at the delivery of a _male_ which he had
not expected that night.
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[Illustration: THE TRAVELLING POST OFFICE.]
The pouch which has been discharged from the wayside
standard into the net attached to the train.
------------------------------------
[Illustration: THE TRAVELLING POST OFFICE.]
The apparatus on the exterior of a mail carriage. Two
pouches are extended for despatch and the net lowered into
position for the receipt of incoming pouches.
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The history of the Travelling Post Office is not without its stories of
more serious disasters. One of the most awful railway accidents which
have happened in this country was the collision of the Irish mail train
with some runaway waggons at Abergele on the 20th August 1868. There
were barrels of petroleum on the waggons, and these became ignited,
setting fire to the train. Among the burning carriages was the
Travelling Post Office, and the two officers working in it were
seriously injured. The conduct of Woodroffe, one of the two, whose
injuries were not so severe as those of his colleague, was in accordance
with the best traditions of the postal service. Woodroffe, though badly
hurt, carried his brother officer, who was insensible from the
collision, to the side of the railway line, and after laying him there
proceeded himself to save the mails so far as it was possible.
Another railway tragedy which will long be remembered in the postal
service was that which took place outside Shrewsbury Station on the 15th
October 1907. This was the severest accident that has occurred in the
whole history of the Travelling Post Office. No less than three Post
Office men were killed while on duty, and others were injured.
It will be perhaps interesting at this stage to trace the travels of a
letter to the furthest point in the British Isles. On this route we can
bring out clearly the fact that in many parts of Great Britain and
Ireland the Post Office, in spite of mail trains and ingenious
mechanical contrivances, is still dependent on quite primitive means for
conducting its business. Moreover, directly we get away from the main
lines of traffic, considerations of weather still affect postal
operations almost as much as they used to do in the old coaching days.
Let us address a letter to the Muckle Flugga Lighthouse, which is
situated to the north of the island of Unst in Shetland. Let us post the
letter at King Edward's Building on a Sunday night at 6 P.M., and given
favourable conditions of weather it will be delivered at the Muckle
Flugga Lighthouse on Thursday morning. The letter is sorted into the
Scottish division, is subsorted into a pigeon hole, and afterwards into
a bundle labelled “Aberdeen forward.” The bundle is dropped into a bag
inscribed with the words “London to Aberdeen,” and one of the familiar
red vans conveys the bag to the London terminus. On Sunday nights this
would be Euston. The bag is handed over to the sorters in charge of the
Travelling Post Office, on which there is a mail carriage which runs
direct to Aberdeen. Aberdeen is reached at 7.35 on Monday morning. So
far the process of the letter has been simple and rapid.
The bag containing the letters is conveyed to the Aberdeen Post Office,
where it is opened, and the letters are again subsorted. The letter for
Muckle Flugga is placed in a pigeon hole labelled “Lerwick,” and a
sorter then checks all the postal packets very carefully, because, in
consequence of the remoteness of the islands, serious delay would happen
if any were mis-sent. Then they are tied in separate bundles and are
placed in a strong waterproof sack labelled “Lerwick.” The Monday
steamer goes to Scalloway on the west side of Shetland, other steamers
during the week go to Lerwick _via_ Orkney, the steamer on Thursdays
from Aberdeen sailing to Lerwick direct. But our letter is going to
Scalloway, and it can arrive there about 2 P.M. on the Tuesday. The
mails are then placed on a mail cart for conveyance to Lerwick on the
east side of the island, six miles distant. At Lerwick the letter is
again subsorted, and placed in another bag labelled “Lerwick to
Haroldswick.” This place is on the island of Unst. The bag is conveyed
by mail car leaving Lerwick at 9.15 P.M. on Tuesday, and this stage
means a long drive of many miles north, with a break of a few hours at
Voe. Mossbank, which is on Yell Sound, the dangerous channel which
separates the island of Yell from the Shetland mainland, is reached at
7.30 A.M. on Wednesday. The bag for Haroldswick is here placed in a
ferry-boat which starts at 8 A.M. and is due to reach the other side in
an hour, the distance being three miles. The tide in Yell Sound has a
speed of nine miles an hour, and in a gale of wind is the worst crossing
in the British Isles. Ulsta is the landing-place on the other side, and
a mail car takes the letter for the lighthouse five and a half miles to
Burravoe, then another car takes it to Cullivoe, twenty miles further
on, and the letter is opposite the island of Unst at 3 P.M. on
Wednesday. Here is another ferry between the islands of Yell and Unst,
across a channel one mile in width, and the ferryman should arrive at
Tranavoe in Unst about 3.30 P.M. There a mail car takes the letter, and
carries it eleven and a half miles across the island, and it arrives at
Haroldswick the same evening at 6.30. Here the letter rests until the
following morning, when a foot-postman starts for the shore station of
the Muckle Flugga Lighthouse. But it may be here for weeks before the
people on the shore can communicate with those on the lighthouse. The
British Isles in these northern latitudes end in magnificent and
dangerous rocks, and it is upon one of these, rising to a height of 200
feet, that the Muckle Flugga lighthouse is erected.
The letter has travelled practically the length of the British Isles
from south to north, and in less than the same time another letter might
have travelled from London to Athens, Cadiz, Gibraltar, Madeira or
Tangiers. The _Mauretania_ will probably reach New York on most of her
voyages sooner than a passenger will travel the length of the British
Isles. And that is simply because we use the old means of conveyance
over a considerable portion of the distance. The Post Office owes much
to the railway companies for the advances made in the quality of the
rolling stock and in the condition of the permanent way. It was always
possible to sort letters after a fashion while the train was in motion.
But it is now possible to write and to type letters on the train, and we
have come to this, that all the stages of a letter can be completed
during a single journey. Yet directly we get away from the railway
system in any part of the country we are back again in the eighteenth
century, dependent on postboys, mail carts, the weather, and the state
of the roads. The country is still full of samples of the travelling
arrangements of all the centuries. There is no Travelling Post Office in
the Hebrides or the Shetlands.