Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
RAILWAY POST OFFICE
RAILWAY POST OFFICE.
Railroads were important to the exchange of information and goods in the United States. Distribution of mail on trains made it possible for letters to travel as quickly as people did in the days when there were no faster choices for communication.
The RPO postmarks were used on mail that was taken to railroad station letter boxes or handed directly to the clerks on the trains. Many of these markings are of poor quality because there was often so much to do in a very short time and because a rocking railroad car does not lend itself well to fine detail work. In 1977 the last United States RPO ran between New York and Washington.