Re: (erielack) Lackawanna Passenger Trains

[Will Semanchuk-Enser <alcoman_@_net.bluemoon.net>]

On Mon, 3 Feb 2003, David J. Monte Verde wrote:
<snip>
>
>A question which I have is this: at each end of the cart I had a stack of
>small lite mail bags, I would knock on the first door, it would slide open
>and a visor wearing-gun carrying man with an leather apron would slide open
>the door & say: "what have yea got for me kid?" and the I would exchange my
>bags ( from the east end of the cart) for his bags, placing them at the east
>end of the cart, and then I would push the cart down to the west door of the
>car and repeat the exchange of mail bags from the west end of my cart.  I
>know I was handling first class mail, but why did I deliver & receive from
>two different doors?
>
>Regards David MV
>

David and all...

First of all DMV....I enjoy reading your posts to the list Re: the
Lackawanna and Dansville!

I remember reading in an NRHS Bulletin or maybe it was Trains about RPO
service.  It was a very "regimented" operation.  If I remember correctly
from what I read, (wish I could remember where) the cars were set up
almost assembly line like.  Unsorted (incoming) mail would come in one end
of the car and sorted (outgoing) would go out the other so as to not cross
any of it up.  That way they kept from having to re-sort mail. Every
picture I have ever seen of the inside of a working RPO showed a fairly
sterile environment.  Was a very spartan and utilitarian working space.

Anyone on the list have any RPO time under thier belts.  Were the folks
assigned to the RPO's USPS employees or were they RR folks?  Did the DLW
make use of mail cranes and "on the fly" drops and pickups?

I read a story in one of the mags recently about a fellow who was assigned
to an RPO....was low man on the totem pole so he was responsible for
sticking his head out to get the bags snatched by the cranes.  Apparently
one of the regular station agents was out sick and a substitute was
working and the fellow was a little over-zealous about tying the bag to
the pole.

The RPO fellow had set the crane for the pickup and put his head back
inside the car, and heard a louder than normal boom when the bag was
snatched by the crane.  The fellow thought there had been explosives in
the mailbag.  Looking out he found that not only had the bag been snatched
but the entire pole and 3ft diameter concrete base were hanging off the
crane bouncing along thru the ballast.  That station agent must have heard
about that for a long time afterwards!!

Will Semanchuk-Enser    Blue Moon Internet Corp General Manager
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