Postal History

Inter-urban electric train, used in the Dallas-Plano area in the first half of the 20th century.

Another view of the inter-urban electric train.

Detail of the Railway Post Office car.

Facing out from the post office.

A view of the post office, facing in to the car.

The passenger seating.

The "direct deposit" facility. It had a standard commode to sit on, with an open bottom that deposited the contents directly to the ground.

The door, with letter slot, leading from the passenger section of the car to the RPO.

A Pitney-Bowes canceling maching.

The serial number dates this machine from the 1920s.

Early machine cancel. The covers were fed into it from the left side; cranking the hand wheel fed them through the machine, where they were cancelled and deposited into the collection tray on the right side.

2 cancelling devices: a circular date stamp (looks like a candle snuffer), and a roller cancel, for use on parcels with a large number of stamps affixed .

Close-up of the circular date stamp used to cancel stamps.