Glen Allen in Henrico County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

U.S. Railway Post Office Car

Photographed by Bernard Fisher, March 18, 2010

1. U.S. Railway Post Office Car Marker

Inscription. Government regulations required Railway Post Office cars in 1910. The RF&P owned five. American Car & Foundry built this one in 1916. Some of the first steel cars were postal cars. They were important revenue sources for the railroad. The elimination of the postal cars caused some of the less profitable passenger trains to be eliminated. This car was one of the last cars removed from service by the Post Office Department in 1970.

Mail Service personnel had a complicated system of sorting and dispatching mail to various stops along the rail. Inside the cars, clerks sorted the mail in a series of bins and trays. They placed the mail in bags, then hung them on steel racks ready to be dispatched. For those towns where the train did not stop, mail delivery would come from staff who shoved the mail from the train while it sped by the station. Simultaneously, a metal crane extending from the train retrieved mailbags that hung from a metal arm at the station.

Erected by County of Henrico.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Communications • Railroads & Streetcars. In addition,

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it is included in the Postal Mail and Philately series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1910.

Location. 37° 40.599′ N, 77° 30.413′ W. Marker is in Glen Allen, Virginia, in Henrico County. It can be reached from RF&P Drive near Meadow Farm Drive. This marker is located in RF&P Park at Meadow Farm. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 3600 Mountain Road, Glen Allen VA 23060, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Virginia’s Piedmont,

in Central Virginia,

and in the Richmond Metropolitan Area.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Upper South.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad Company (here, next to this marker);

U.S. Railway Post Office Car image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bernard Fisher, March 18, 2010

2. U.S. Railway Post Office Car

Postal cars were designed in the early twentieth century and were major income producers for the RF&P.

Steel Coach (here, next to this marker); Caboose (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); Box Car (approx. 0.3 miles away); Log Tobacco Barn (approx. half a mile away); Meadow Farm (approx. 0.6 miles away); Parsons Community Center (approx. 0.6 miles away); a different marker also named Meadow Farm (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Glen Allen.

Another marker is no longer nearby. Meadow Farm (was approx. 0.6 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).

Also see . . . Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad Historical Society, Inc. (Submitted on March 21, 2010, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.)

Photographed by Bernard Fisher, March 18, 2010

3. U.S. Railway Post Office Car

Inside the postal car, mail sorters would separate the first class mail, newspapers, and parcels. Then they would bag them for delivery.

RF&P Markers image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bernard Fisher, March 18, 2010

4. RF&P Markers

RF&P United States Mail Railway Post Office Car image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bernard Fisher, March 18, 2010

5. RF&P United States Mail Railway Post Office Car

RF&P Park entrance on Meadow Farm Drive image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bernard Fisher, December 10, 2009

6. RF&P Park entrance on Meadow Farm Drive

Meadow Farm entrance on Mountain Road image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bernard Fisher, February 2, 2009

7. Meadow Farm entrance on Mountain Road

Credits. This page was last revised on January 25, 2020. It was originally submitted on March 21, 2010, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. This page has been viewed 1,507 times since then and 26 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on March 21, 2010, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.