Railway Mail Service

Topical Reference Page
Railway Mail Service clerks sorting mail in a rail car

For more than a century, the core of America’s postal system was the Railway Mail Service. The system of train lines that crisscrossed the nation carried passengers and mail in and out of large cities and small towns. The Railway Mail Service went a step further in service than passenger trains, providing mail delivery and pick-up to small towns where trains did not even stop. The service relied on partnerships with America’s railway companies and the dedication and efforts of the service’s Railway Post Office clerks. From its beginnings in the midst of the Civil War to its slow decline after World War II and the service’s last run in 1977, the history of America’s Railway Mail Service is one that was central to America’s postal history.

Glossary: Railway Mail Service

Railway Mail Service clerks posing with Owney the dog in front of a railcar.
In the Line of Duty - Braving the Rails
Exhibition
From the start of the Railway Mail Service in America in 1832, postal clerks who rode with the mail did so under life-threatening conditions. Ever present were the dual dangers of robberies and wrecks.
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Refer to caption
Detonator Used in Mail Robbery
Object Spotlight

Three brothers stole this blasting machine and dynamite from the Oregon City Construction Company and used it to perpetrate the robbery of a mail train on October 11, 1923.

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Glossary
Glossary: R
Glossary terms from "A" to "Z" related to stamp collecting and postal operations.

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Mail sorting facility
Mail by Rail
July 30, 1993 - Permanent
Exhibition

The Railway Mail Service revolutionized the way mail was processed by sorting mail aboard moving trains. The National Postal Museum re-created a railway mail train in its Atrium. The interior fixtures is from a de-commissioned mail car. The exterior portion of the Railway Post Office train was created by Smithsonian artisans.

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screenshot of a mail crane video
Mail Crane
Location: 
Atrium

The Railway Mail Service began exchanging mail “on-the-fly” in 1869. This system of mail cranes made it unnecessary for trains to stop at every town to load and unload mail.

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illustration of a rail engine with Railway Post Office
Alphabetilately - R is for Railway Post
Exhibition
A Railway Post Office {RPO} was a special mail car on a train. From the 1860s until the 1950s, most intercity mail in the U.S. was postmarked and sorted by hand en route in these cars.
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Chicago & North West railroad mail car model
About Postal Operations - Railway
Exhibition
Beginning in 1832 train cars were used to carry the mail, and then in 1864 postal officials inaugurated...
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illustration showing the Hannibal and St. Joseph RR car, met by a steamer ready to take mail down the river.
Montgomery Blair - Railway Mail
Research Article
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refer to caption
Railway Mail Crane
Object Spotlight

Railway Mail Service revolutionized the way mail was processed by sorting mail aboard moving trains. A critical component of the service was the mail exchange made between moving trains and small towns.

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railway clerks loading mail on the train
Behind the Badge - Railway Mail Service
Exhibition
In 1869, special agents (i.e., inspectors) began supervising the mail and clerks on the new Railway Mail Service (RMS) cars. Inspectors were responsible for ensuring that every aspect of the Railway Mail Service was functioning at its highest and most secure level, including moving the mail on and off the trains.
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screenshot of video showing two railway service clerks
Railway Service Car
Location: 
Atrium

Sorting mail on moving trains was one of the postal service’s great innovations. After the Civil War, Post Office officials worked to decentralize operations, concentrating on the growing volume of mail carried on the nation’s rail lines.

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Daylight train stamp depicting a locomotive pulling train cars through countryside
Stamp Stories: Trains
Just for Kids! Educators share museum objects and a children’s book that offer a look at some fascinating facts about trains, railroads, and postal history.

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On August 28, 1864, while the nation was still in the midst of the Civil War, the Post Office Department established the Railway Mail Service. The new service revolutionized the way mail was processed by sorting mail aboard moving trains, not just in post offices. Trains had been carrying mail for almost 30 years by that time. Under that system, mail bags were loaded onto the trains to be carried to another post office for processing. Some were delivered, but many others were put back into bags for another train trip. Some postal officials began wondering if they could improve that process by putting clerks on the trains to sort mail along the way, dramatically reducing the time it took to receive a letter.

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Mug shot of Frank Grigward (aka James Gordon)
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Traveling on a Postage Stamp- advertisement with a cross section of a mail train

Advertisement for the New York Central Railroad

The Railway Mail Service revolutionized the way mail was processed by sorting mail aboard moving trains. Railway mail service began in 1832, but grew slowly until the Civil War. In 1862, mail was sorted en route, as a train moved between two points. The idea proved to be exceptionally successful, and as the postal service decentralized its operations, it concentrated on sorting much of the growing volume of mail while it was being carried on the nation's rail lines.

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