Do these items still ship by rail

[carajul]

Does milk still get shipped by rail?
What about mail (not UPS or FEDEX). I mean USPS.
I read that in 1950 about 70% of good traveled by rail and at present its only 40%. That doesn't seem good but the RRs don't want small stuff anymore either.
What about frozen products? Remember the "solid cold" refidge box cars?

[PRRTechFan]

The "mail trains" that exclusively handled U.S. Mail (no passengers, baggage or other freight) have been gone for quite a while. Whether Amtrak might carry the occasional sack of mail in trains with a baggage car, I do not know. I doubt there are any milk trains any more, either; but a recent post in one of the forums had photos and schedule information about the Tropicana O.J. train!

[Sir Ray]

In the 1950s many (most) major Railroads had huge LCL facilities in major urban areas (and many freight agents at local stations). This was carried mostly in boxcars, and indeed there were some famous LCL express trains (e.g. the NYC Pacemaker). By the mid-late 1960s this LCL was mostly gone, and was just a footnote by the 1970s (literally; I remember seeing in archived copies of Railway Age from that era the carload listings of the previous month, and after a given date LCL traffic was marked by an asterisk because it was so small).
Milk, I believe, is shipped solely by trucks in the US, but oddly enough there is a thriving New Zealand milk service (you can find this thread here: http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14807), which means it's certainly possible in the 21st Century to have rail transport of milk; it's just not done (not profitable, I guess).
Also remember, much high-value commodities are going by rail, just in containers due to the dysfunctional system of importing high-value items like home electronics and computer equipment overseas, while boxcars are often relegated to low value, bulk item service like waste paper, lumber, bricks and so on.

[Ken W2KB]

Mail may travel in containers on stack trains or TOFC, in which case it would be because an over the road truck company utilizes that service, not the USPS directly.

[New Haven 1]

I can't say I have seen one recently,but, Amtrak has been hauling US Mail. If you notice on the back of some of their trains some unique looking boxcars usually at the back end, that is what they are for. I do not recall from where,but, I was told these cars were specially built to haul mail on Amtrak trains at the higher speeds they run. They have special trucks,bearings,brakes etc. There is a transfer terminal not far from the Springfield,Ma. station which is the general area I live in. I have seen both truck trailers and these cars spotted there. I haven't looked recently to see if there have been any there though. I will post a followup if I do see any activity the next time I am down in the area.

[7 Train]

The Amtrak MHC boxcars have been retired as of 2003. Whatever freight is carried is shipped along mixed with the baggage/mail cars.

[Eric Kreszl]

What about the roadrailer companies like Triple Crown?

I would expect mail to be shipped in these trains.

[eotd]

What about frozen products? Remember the "solid cold" refidge box cars?

There is still a very heavy, profitable reefer service run by both UP and BNSF, traditionally coast to coast. Solid Cold cars (as well as UPFE reefers) have largely been retooled into white cars marked ARMN mostly for UP and BNSF introduced enormous extended height reefers to their fleet, which maximize profits for both railroads. I think there are still some reefer customers in NJ, definitely still the Tropicana, which gets juice from FL in their own reefers.

These cars carry a range of food, not just frozen products. Potatoes and onions for instance are common.

[Wanderer]

What about the roadrailer companies like Triple Crown?

I would expect mail to be shipped in these trains.

Actually...auto parts and custom critical truckload only.

[pdtrains]

Reefers still handle agri-biz foodstuffs in California, although not nearly as much as in years past. I think the RR's are finally going back after this
business. You just need to be something in the vague vicinity of on time when you're moving perishables.

As for the USPS....they made a deal with Fedex to handle almost all the mail a few years ago. Ever notice that there are Fedex boxes at the
Post Offices...that was part of the deal. Before that...the mail was handled
by Amtrak, a lot of different airlines, and some USPS contract airplanes.

Gunn claimed that the Amtk mail contracts were money losers, so he didn't mind seeing them go.

If the gov't was smart, they would have the Quasi-govt USPS feed biz to the Quazi-govt Passenger rail system......but that would mean working together, and looking for the greater good, and more Amtk jobs, and less subsidy for the priviate sector...........Heaven forbid......But that's just my opinion...I could be wrong.