Travelling Post Office
TPO at Hednesford in the 1960s
Anyone who has been reading this blog may have noticed, in ‘Bits & Pieces’ in the 1970s and early 80s, the mention of a Travelling Post Office (TPO). Our museum curator has recently acquired a book for the museum’s reference library – ‘An Illustrated History of the Travelling Post Office’ in which the Railway Preservation Society’s purchase is mentioned. It was bought for £200 and housed at Hednesford, later being transferred to Chasewater and sold in 1983 for £1,000,
Built in 1909, London & North Western No.20 was renumbered 9520 by the LNWR and 3227 and 30244 by the LMS. The latter number, allocated in 1933, lasted until the vehicle was withdrawn in 1961. It was used on the Irish services until 1940 and its apparatus was removed in 1945.
After withdrawal it was acquired by the Railway Preservation Society, Hednesford, Staffordshire, where it housed the small relics collection, and later moved to Chasewater. In 1983 it was sold to the Birmingham Railway Museum, Tyseley, which in turn sold it to the Royal Mail Museum in 1999. It has been overhauled and had its apparatus restored, and in 2007 was put on display at the Crewe Heritage Centre.
It is currently at the Nene Valley Railway, Peterborough.
The TPO at Nene Valley Railway
There is another post following this one with more information about TPOs and more photos of the former CLR vehicle.
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