My Dad was the Baggage Master for #3 and #4 trains that ran through Hamlet, NC "The Hub of the Seaboard". In the 50's and 60''s I would ride with my Dad. I remember sitting up on bags of mail peeping out a porthole of the baggage car as we crossed the James River in Virginia. I also remember my Dad would put me between his legs to hold on to me - not recommended - and have me look out the doorway as he would stick his arm out to catch the mail bags hanging beside the track. I have great memories of those days especially the free pass to ride anywhere Seaboard Airline RR went.
As a member of the TPO Group at the Didcot Railway Centre in the UK, it's gtreat to see how it was done in the US. Did the US Mail used to drop any sacks off on the fly as well?
@blindpugh12 Yes, they did. They literally just threw them out the door as they passed the station platform; there were fairly frequent occasions when bags broke and the station clerks would have to collect the mail from all over the station area!
My Dad was the Baggage Master for #3 and #4 trains that ran through Hamlet, NC "The Hub of the Seaboard". In the 50's and 60''s I would ride with my Dad. I remember sitting up on bags of mail peeping out a porthole of the baggage car as we crossed the James River in Virginia. I also remember my Dad would put me between his legs to hold on to me - not recommended - and have me look out the doorway as he would stick his arm out to catch the mail bags hanging beside the track. I have great memories of those days especially the free pass to ride anywhere Seaboard Airline RR went.
As a member of the TPO Group at the Didcot Railway Centre in the UK, it's gtreat to see how it was done in the US. Did the US Mail used to drop any sacks off on the fly as well?
@blindpugh12 Yes, they did. They literally just threw them out the door as they passed the station platform; there were fairly frequent occasions when bags broke and the station clerks would have to collect the mail from all over the station area!