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  • Lake Shore & Michigan Fast Mail train model
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Lake Shore & Michigan Fast Mail train model

Object Details

Description
In 1993 the Smithsonian Institution’s Office of Exhibits Central built this railroad car model, representing the famous 'Lake Shore and Michigan Fast Mail' trains of the Southern Railway company. It was part of the National Postal Museum's inaugural exhibit, "Binding the Nation," which opened on July 30, 1993. The model remains on display in the museum atrium.
The opened side of the model is placed to show what the side of the car would have looked like from the outside.
One side of the model opens to reveal the interior of a working Railway Post Office (RPO) train car. Inside the car to one end are sorting tables with pigeon hole containers above them. Tables with larger containers are opposite the opened side of the model. RPO clerks sorted mail inside these cars while traveling between stops, helping to speed-up mail delivery. Not all mail was sorted by clerks. Mail pouches that would be opened during the journey were placed near sorting tables, and the mail dumped onto the table for processing. Mail pouches that contained 'through' mail were stacked together, usually held steady by rows of floor-to-ceiling metal poles.
George S. Bangs, Railway Mail Service General Superintendent (1871-1876), proposed the need for fast and exclusive mail trains between the nation’s two commercial centers, New York and Chicago. According to Bangs, the service would “expedite the movement of mail from the east to the west and cover the distance in about twenty-four hours,” a dramatic savings in time (Annual Report, 1874). The first Fast Mail train carried over thirty tons of mail from New York to Chicago on September 16, 1875, traveling at an average speed of 50 miles per hour.
The first Fast Mail five-car train traveled from New York City to Chicago via Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Toledo over the New York Central plus Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroads. The Fast Mail never missed a connection from September 16, 1875, to July 22, 1876. It failed to arrive in Chicago on time only three times and was delayed traveling to New York only once. Although the Fast Mail was successful and a remarkable break-through, this first Fast Mail was discontinued in July 1876 when Congress instituted a 10-percent reduction in service.
Data Source
National Postal Museum
Date
late 19th century
Object number
1993.4005.1
Type
Transportation Equipment & Models
Medium
wood; metal
Dimensions
Height x Width x Depth: 8 x 31 1/2 x 10 in. (20.32 x 80.01 x 25.4 cm)
Place
United States of America
See more items in
National Postal Museum Collection
On View
Currently on exhibit at the National Postal Museum
Topic
Transportation
Record ID
npm_1993.4005.1
Usage
Not determined
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm8e67e8dc5-85aa-4f3b-ba6a-9c3028a6aae6

Related Object Groups

  • Trains at Smithsonian Station
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HomeSmithsonian National Postal Museum

Plan a Visit

TEMPORARILY CLOSED
Open every day (except December 25)
10:00 am to 5:30 pm

Admission is always free!

2 Massachusetts Ave., N.E.
Washington, DC 20002

street map of Postal museum

Learn more
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