There have been many reports about how suburbanites (back in the 1920s or -30s) could phone a grocery order in to a merchant or merchants at Reading Terminal Market and have the package transported later that day in a working baggage car (which some suburban trains had back then), and meet the train at Ambler or somewhere and claim the package from the baggageman, being billed monthly by the merchant, but I've never seen any mention of the transportation itself. Does anyone know whether there was an actual published tariff covering this service, or was it completely informal, and provided as a courtesy? Back in that era, a railroad could not legally provide any service for anyone unless it was published in detail in a tariff on file with the Interstate Commerce Commission and any relevant state regulatory agency. Tariffs hardly ever got saved (would anybody bid on an old freight tariff at an auction?), but if there was such a thing it would be a real find today if it survived.
Railroad Forums
Package deliveries from Reading Terminal
- Discussion Related to the Reading Company 1833-1976 and it's predecessors Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway.
Moderator: Franklin Gowen
Indeed, there was a tariff and revenue stamps (I dare not call them postage stamps) in several denominations. Wish I had saved some of that stuff! The service was active at least into the early 1970's surviving on traffic of blood plasma, radiator cores, advertising proofs, and maybe someone knows whatever else.
Thanks for replying -- it's nice to have that cleared up.
westernfalls wrote:The service was active at least into the early 1970's surviving on traffic of blood plasma...You have jogged my memory. When I worked for Chelden Radio Cab in 1969 and 1970, they had just acquired Valley Cab which met the trains at Bethayres station to take blood up the hill to Holy Redeemer Hospital. I don't know if we got the blood from the conductor, or from the ticket agent on the other side of the tracks.
Back then, I also remember the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin being unloaded onto baggage carts at Jenkintown. 1st, the papers came through the side door of an MU combine. When some of them were converted into Blueliners, a side window was used, or the engineer's door, if it was an airconditioned Blueliner with sealed windows!