Center-case N&W RPO cars

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

Hello, Harold and Paul:

The Post Office Department has a specification prior
to 1931 for RPO cars with the distribution cases
located in the center of the car.  However, after the
1920s, none seemed to be produced; standard plans
specify that distribution cases were positioned near
one end of a 60-feet car.

Do you all remember any hearsay about why center-case
cars were not approved after the 1920s?  I understood
that railroads could continue to operate them; I think
Seaboard Air Line and Grand Trunk Western were two
carriers that had such cars in their fleet into the
1950s and 1960s?

I am also interested in whether there was an order to
withdraw them from service.  For example, the Norfolk
and Western replaced its class Me cars with center
cases built in the 1910s with nine new 60-feet cars in
1937, which were class M1.  I am supposing that the
replacement was prompted by repair costs to the
Me-series cars that were about 25 years old rather
than a POD order to remove them from service.

Any thoughts about center-case cars --even anecdotes--
are welcome.

Thanks,

Dr. Frank R. Scheer, Curator 
Railway Mail Service Library, Inc. 
f_scheer at yahoo.com 
(202) 268-2121 - weekday office 
(540) 837-9090 - Saturday afternoon 
in the former N&W station on VA rte 723 
117 East Main Street 
Boyce VA 22620-9639 

Visit at http://www.railwaymailservicelibrary.org 

P.S. I have a DVD about Railway Post Offices (RPOs) available at http://www.railwaymailservicelibrary.org/DVD.htm

Also, if you have an interest in RPOs, please visit the RailwayPO group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RailwayPO