Also the Aberdeen portion of the West Coast Postal, Stonehaven was one location where I witnessed it and there were probably others on the route north from Motherwell or Law Jn (via Holytown) .I know that back in the days of steam the West Coast Mainline (London to Glasgow) had the mail system where mail bags could be picked up or dropped off at speed. Were there any other lines that had the same facility?
Great Central - Loughborough Cen to Leicester North?Any GB heritage lines got such apparatus in place / in still working order?
very much worth a visit to any of the places that use it in preservation on a demonstration day.Any GB heritage lines got such apparatus in place / in still working order?
@Mcr Warrior - Do you know what that source is, and possibly where I can access it? I'd be interested in looking at itLondon->Dover, also, I believe.
One source has there being some 245 such lineside exchange apparatus points across the UK, immediately pre WW1.
Try this link...@Mcr Warrior - Do you know what that source is, and possibly where I can access it? I'd be interested in looking at it
Extract from the above Postal Museum webstory said:Bags, Tracks and Tragedy
Our Curatorial Department have recently been working with our friends at the Nene Valley Railway to restore our trackside Bag Exchange Apparatus, which will be going on display in Spring 2017. It is an extraordinary and ingenious construction that once received and despatched heavy leather pouches, containing mailbags, with a moving Travelling Post Office (TPO).
The first transport of mail by rail took place in 1830, and it was not long before train and trackside apparatus had been introduced that meant the TPO did not have to stop when dropping off and picking up mail. A net was used to catch pouches of mail hung outside the TPO, and the train could collect bags of mail using a similar net attached to the outside of the carriage.
...A peak was probably reached in 1913 when there were 245 exchange apparatus points across the UK...
It takes place at QuornGreat Central - Loughborough Cen to Leicester North?
They got used to standing in open doorways or at open windows and watching carefully. “We left X fifteen minutes ago and we seem to be running normally. There’s a station. Yes, it’s the right one as the signal box is the end of the platform. One...two...three bridges. Now out with the net.”Quite how in the winter dark and rain the postmen knew exactly where they were, and at speed pushed the net significantly out of gauge at just the right point between overbridges was quite a skill.
From Motherwell north to Aberdeen there was, as late as 1960, apparatus at: Coatbridge Jn, Carmuirs West Jn, Larbert, Gleneagles, Coupar Angus South, Alyth Junction, Forfar, Bridge of Dun, Dubton (North), Laurencekirk and StonehavenAlso the Aberdeen portion of the West Coast Postal, Stonehaven was one location where I witnessed it and there were probably others on the route north from Motherwell or Law Jn (via Holytown) .
The technique is described in the 1930s film "Night Mail" - rail joints as well as bridges were used for locating where the net and bags needed to be put out.They got used to standing in open doorways or at open windows and watching carefully. “We left X fifteen minutes ago and we seem to be running normally. There’s a station. Yes, it’s the right one as the signal box is the end of the platform. One...two...three bridges. Now out with the net.”
Yes, but be aware that the interior scenes in the sorting carriage were mocked up in a studio and not shot on the move, according to Basil Wright, a director of several 1930s documentaries, in his book The Long View.The technique is described in the 1930s film "Night Mail" - rail joints as well as bridges were used for locating where the net and bags needed to be put out.
Yes, but the sequence showing the swinging out of the bag and the counting of bridges / rail joints ("beats") would clearly have been based on real practice - and the actual swing out looks like the real things since you can see track speeding past - albeit I guess edited in with the chaps in the carriageYes, but be aware that the interior scenes in the sorting carriage were mocked up in a studio and not shot on the move, according to Basil Wright, a director of several 1930s documentaries, in his book The Long View.
Thanks - I was aware of this from "Railways on the Screen" by John Huntley (Ian Allan, 1993) where he goes into some detail about the film.Yes, but be aware that the interior scenes in the sorting carriage were mocked up in a studio and not shot on the move, according to Basil Wright, a director of several 1930s documentaries, in his book The Long View.
Indeed. Actual TPO workers used, but filmed at the GPO Film Unit studios in Blackheath, in South East London.Yes, but be aware that the interior scenes in the sorting carriage were mocked up in a studio and not shot on the move, according to Basil Wright, a director of several 1930s documentaries, in his book The Long View.
I thought it was 35mph for the TPO(?), 60 being only for testing purposes.As said before, the GCR has demonstrations of the mail exchange - 1 bag dropped and 1 bag picked up, that take place just to the South of the Quorn signal box at the end of the station yard. It is a great spectacle - there is a dispensation for the train to be travelling at speed (50 or 60mph?) as no passengers are carried. There are some good You Tube videos showing the action.
I'm sure I've seen it run at faster than 35mph on the GCR - or so it looked to me at least!I thought it was 35mph for the TPO(?), 60 being only for testing purposes.
ISTR it came up in a thread, I believe on the subject of increasing speeds on heritage lines, and it was stated it was 35 for the TPO or maybe that's the minimum the catch/drop will work at and they can actually run at 60 which is the limit for non-passenger carrying steam trains.I'm sure I've seen it run at faster than 35mph on the GCR - or so it looked to me at least!