By: Zman
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Railway Post Office clerks were considered the elite of the postal service's employees. The exhausting and dangerous job required passing challenging entrance exams. A passing score on the civil service exam was 97% or higher, requiring a clerk to sort 600 pieces of mail an hour. This was not a test only taken once, RPO clerks were tested over and over to ensure their skills remained sharp. The memorization abilities clerks possessed were remarkable. A single route was not the extent of testing, multiple routes for individual home states had to be learned, plus the routes of any other worked states. If a clerk was a substitute, which was how most started, he had to know countless routes with staggering numbers of towns with post offices that received mail. Clerks finally had to know where connecting trains met, so mail going either north/south or east/west could be delivered to the correct train. This intense, high pressure work environment elicited strong relationships and interactions.was only half of the process, the clerk also had to throw that destinations sorted mail from the train. If the bag was not thrown far enough, a "snowstorm" could occur, meaning the mailbag was ripped under the train mail scattered.
Railway Post Office clerks developed a strong sense of camaraderie. No clerk rested until all work was completed and every piece of mail was sorted. It was a "one for all and all for one" atmosphere in which each took pride in his job and the responsibility of ensuring the mail was delivered. For 140 years the Railway Post Office carried the mail to be delivered across America. As highways were built and air travel increased, the U.S. Post Office began to fade out mail trains. By 1965, only 190 trains carried mail, by 1970, no first class mail was carried on the railroad. The last Railway Post Office, which operated between New York and Washington, D.C., made a final run on June 30, 1977 |
| Wow once again some fantastic work from you old buddy. Great little details all over the place. Another interesting and unique project from you, I really enjoyed it. Special thanks for sending this one in and sharing it with us. - GL |
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