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- New York Central railway mail car model
New York Central railway mail car model
Object Details
- Description
- This HO scale model of a New York Central full-length Railway Post Office (RPO) car is notable because it depicts a center-case floor arrangement. HO-scale stands for Half-O gauge. Each HO-scale model is 1/87th of the full-size prototype. The model is a Walthers kit without detailing. For example, there are no bars over windows, catcher arms or safety rods in doorways, and cinder guards are not mounted.
- During the 1910s, after passage of the Steel Car Act, some RPOs were designed so that the distribution cases were off-set slightly within the middle of the sixty-foot interior. The design was meant to lessen swaying and vertical movement and reduce Railway Post Office clerks’ fatigue. The new designs also helped lessen the vibration from the ride over rail joints and turnouts. This interior layout does not appear in Post Office Department standard plans and specifications after 1931.
- Data Source
- National Postal Museum
- Date
- c. 1914-1968
- Object number
- 0.234863.134
- Type
- Transportation Equipment & Models
- Medium
- wood; plastic; metal
- Dimensions
- 2 x 1.375 x 8.938 in. (5.08 x 3.4925 x 22.70252 cm)
- Place
- New York
- See more items in
- National Postal Museum Collection
- Topic
- Transportation
- Record ID
- npm_0.234863.134
- Usage
- CC0
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