History of Pennsy RPO #6513 (61950??)

Up in Rochester, New York, we have preserved 61950, a Railway Post Office.

http://rgvrrm.org/about/railroad/prr61950/index.htm

Here's what I have written for this page so far:

The railway post office (RPO) was once common on passenger trains across the country. It was a railroad car used to sort mail en route, in order to speed up delivery. These cars were staffed by special Railway Mail Service employees. Railway Mail Service dates back to 1869, inaugurated by the United States Post Office Department. Thanks to lucrative contracts, many American railroads earned substantial revenues carrying the mail. Even after the substantial drop-off in passengers after World War II, many routes were maintained because the mail contract offset any losses. This would change with the advent of modern jet transportation. The Post Office cancelled most of the railway mail contracts in September 1967, choosing instead to move most mail by jet or by truck. Many passenger trains across America were cancelled following this announcement, as the railroads could no longer offset the passenger loss. The last surviving RPO was operated by Conrail between New York and Washington, D.C. It was discontinued on June 30, 1977, ending more than 110 years of railway mail service.

Our Railway Post Office was built as PRR 61950 in 1910, part of their class BM70nb. It was subsequently purchased by the Rochester Refrigeration Corporation and stored at their facility for many years. In 1996 the car was donated to the museum and was moved to Indsutry. Currently the car is being cleaned out to be used as additional display space. Our long-term plan is to perform a cosmetic restoration and restore the car to its PRR paint and lettering.

Anyone know anything else specific about this car? When it was retired and sold? Was it renumbered any time during its career?

-otto-

Same type of PRR car is at:

#6518, Covington, Ky.�
PRR class BM70nb, Railway Post Office. Original paint and lettering. Permanant� collection, Railway Museum of Greater Cincinnati, interior on museum tour.� �

Railway Museum of Greater Cincinnati is located at 315 W. Southern Ave., Covington,� KY 41015. Mail to P.O. Box 15065. Open weekends, May-October. http://prr.railfan.net/cgi/photo/index. ... M70nb_6518

And at:

#6513, Industry, N.Y.�
Baggage/RPO BM70nb, Genessee Valley Railroad Museum. Built by PRR in 1910

And one at Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona:

http://www.railroadcity.com/gallery/index.php?id=102

A book on the subject: Author Name: Robert A. Liljestrand and David R. Sweetland

Title: Pennsylvania Railroad Baggage & Mail Cars

Publisher: Bob's Photo 2005

Seller ID: BP133

They may have info about your car.

CarterB wrote:#6513, Industry, N.Y.�
Baggage/RPO BM70nb, Genessee Valley Railroad Museum. Built by PRR in 1910

...They may have info about your car.

Yes, that is our car. Maybe the five digit number was assigned during the Conrail days?

-otto-

I am told that the PRR rebuilt fourteen class M70 full-length RPO's into BM70nb between 1950-1953. The fourteen were; 6503, 6504, 6506, 6507, 6509, 6512, 6516, 6518, 6522, 6523, 6525, 6527, 6528, 6529.

We think we have the 6513, which is not on this list.

Otto the reference to your car as #6513 came from: http://broadway.pennsyrr.com/Rail/Prr/F ... _cars.html
Perhaps Mark D. Bej�
[email protected] might be of help

Turns out 61950 was the number it was assigned by Penn Central.

-otto-