B&O-N&W at Shenandoah Jct.

[NW Mailing List]

Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2011 11:45:24 -0400

Rick Morrison said:

"I know this photo, and it's curious that the wagon load of mail is in the 
photo at 1:00 am with B&O train 10 not stopping there until 4:35 am. Did the PO Dept have a policy about mail sitting unattended for several hours?  The last B&O eastbound trains which made evening stops at Shenandoah Junction were number 11 and number 32 which ran close to each other about 10:00 pm.  Number 32 was all mail and express, and was not in the public timetable.  B&O train 17 westbound had a working RPO and it stopped at the Jct about 10:30 pm.  As for N&W train 2 facing "east", it was on the station lead. Once it backed out to the main, it was in fact headed north.

Link carefully posed props in his photos.  I would not rule out that the 
position of the mail cart having something to do with that.  The station at Shenandoah Jct had an enclosed shed on the east end of the station for 
parking loaded express/mail wagons.  There was a considerable amount of US 
Mail and REA express which changed hands there each day between the two 
railroads.


August 16, 2011

Good afteroon, Rick:

The operative word in your comment is "unattended."  If a station was a continuous office so that there was someone on duty, the mail was considered as attended.  In urban locations, a transfer clerk or mail porter would probably have visual sight of the platform and load.  At rural locations, the situation may have been a little looser. 

That said, your point about Mr. Link composing his photos carefully is accurate.  It could be a cart of mail might have been positioned at a different location if the photo hadn't been taken.

Best wishes,

Frank