Re: (erielack) RFD defined and EL RMS ?

["Paul Brezicki" <doctorpb_@_bellsouth.net>]

I learned a little about this on our recent trip to DC. We visited the
Postal Museum in the PO building across the street from Union Station. It's
worth a visit, having some interesting exhibits including an RPO car, and I
don't think is ever crowded. IIRC, folks living in rural areas lobbied hard
for the convenient home delivery that had been implemented in urban areas,
and thus was born Rural Free Delivery around 1900, as Frank mentioned. I
believe you still see "RFD" in rural mailing addresses, as in John Doe, RFD
1, Greenfield OH xxxxx. In the early years of the Republic, various
gathering places including the local pub (and grist mill) would serve as
mail pickup/dropoff points.

Frank, I'm not sure what you're asking in terms of the actual mail sort. RPO
personnel were PO, not RR employees. I don't know to what extent mail was
presorted at major terminals prior to placement on RPO cars. I do know that
mail picked up enroute had to be sorted promptly, as there may have been
letters for the next couple of stations down the line. There were generally
well over 100 destinations to be sorted for in each RPO car. I also don't
know when EL's last RPO operated, although it may have been 1967, when there
was a mass cancellation of rail contracts by the USPS.

Paul B

 

Date: Thu, 30 May 2013 17:48:40 -0400

From: Frank Mellott <fmellott_@_pa.net>

Subject: (erielack) RFD defined and EL RMS ?

 

RFD

*R*ural *F*ree *D*elivery

 

Service began in the 1890's to early 1900's IIRC.

Before this service began rural areas had thousands of post offices.  

For example, the place my grandmother and her sisters were born, and 

another place one lived later, had gristmills. In the office was  a set 

of pigeonholes.  A few times a week the RFD mail buggy would stop and 

drop off mail that farmers would collect when they came to the mill.

Later these routes expanded to home delivery and gave rise to the following:

 

RD  Rural Delivery- delivery by a USPS employee in a service owned or 

the employees own vehicle at a mileage rate plus hourly pay.

 

HCR  Highway Contract Route- Contractor would bid on the route and 

provide vehicle.

 

Star Route- original name, possibly still from horse and buggy days for 

a contract route.  Used concurrently into the mid 1990's.

 

Hope this helps...

To get this back on topic.  Did Railway Mail Service employees sort to  

only town level or the whole way down to route level and let the carrier 

put it in route order?

 

When did RMS cars come off the Erie/DL&W lines in western NY and Ohio?

 

Frank 



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