The Top two photos are part of The Ray Evans Collection
that has been donated by Bob Girouard. They were not
labeled in any way and we had an idea they were mail cars of some kind but
we did not have a definitive answer until Gregory Anthony
sent us the picture at left along with this bit of knowledge:
By 1838, when Congress declared all railroads to be post routes, mail was being carried on 1,500 miles of railroad in this country. From that time forward, the route mileage and the volume of mail carried by rail increased rapidly. While the train is speeding along, the mail clerks are busy sorting mail, making up pouches and performing other duties to assure the prompt and proper handling of the mails. Pouches are received and put off at nearly every station where there is a post office. Letters and postal cards are sorted and tied into bundles, each bundle bearing a slip showing the destination, the railway post office's stamp and the clerk's name. Packages and newspapers are placed in pouches, each of which is labeled for a particular post office or connecting train.
Editors Note: The picture at left must be quite a bit newer since the
lighting appears to be electric instead of the Oil lamps in the top photos.
The dress code appears to be greatly relaxed as well. Thank you to
Gregory for his input.
Railroads Carry the Mail:
Bartlett Station 1908: This building burned about 1925 and was
replaced with a smaller building...which also burned in 1958 or 59
