Railway Post Office (RPO) SLSF 2039-2054 - Floor Plan Drawings Railway Post Office (RPO) SLSF 2039, 2040, 2042, 2043, 2045, 2047, 2048, 2050, 2052, 2054 - Floor Plan Drawings Railway Post Office (RPO) cars with 60' postal compartment SLSF 2039, 2040, 2042, 2043, 2045, 2047, 2048, 2050, 2052, 2054. Built by American Car and Foundry (AC&F) Company. Built during 11/1911.
Railway Post Office (RPO) SLSF 2045, 2049, 2050 - Floor Plan Drawing Railway Post Office (RPO) SLSF 2045, 2049, 2050 - Floor plan drawing. Built by American Car and Foundry (AC&F) Company. Build date during 11-1911. Drawing from a previous Frisco Modelers Information Group (FMIG) newsletter.
I am looking for paint and lettering information on Frisco Railway Post Office (RPO) cars. I assume that the "Frisco" in the letterboard, the SLSF and car number on the side were centered as usual But where were the "United States Mail" and "Railway Post Office" located? Does anyone out there have a photograph or painting diagram for these cars that shows how they were lettered? Thanks Gordon
Mike Condren has a slide of railway post office (RPO) SLSF 2045, I think it was photographed in Rolla, MO in 1967. It is in green with standard gold Frisco lettering and Railway Post Office markings. Perhaps he could be persuaded to post the slide for you. Ken McElreath
My father-in-law, Harold Arnold, sorted mail on RPO cars between Monett, MO and St Louis or Monett and Tulsa, OK from about 1950 through 1966. He used to practice sorting at home, using a self-contained training tool that was like a very large suitcase with pigeon holes and changeable labels. Unfortunately, he disposed of it long before I met him. A few weeks ago, my wife was in Oklahoma for a family reunion. Near Guthrie, OK in the town of Crescent which was near her dad's birthplace she went to the City of Crescent Museum. Inside, one of the displays talked about the railroads and mail service. In the display was one of the sorting practice suitcases along with the cards that were used in the sorting practice. She took a photograph of it for our benefit.
The "War Years Blue and Gray" paint scheme list published by the former Frisco Museum is scanned somewhere else on this website. It may be separate, but for sure it was published in one of the museum's newsletters. It shows which Railway Post Office (RPO) cars were painted in that paint scheme. Tom
I could not find the thread, but I made a copy in 2006 of one posted by Karl that shows the blue and white scheme as of October 1945. The following Railway Post Office (RPO) cars were painted blue and white according to that list. SLSF 2040, SLSF2045, SLSF 2049, SLSF 2054 I will keep looking for the thread to direct anyone else who is interested in the blue and white scheme for those heavyweight cars.
Well, I finally found the thread, but being computer illiterate, I do not know how to reference it in a thread. If anyone would tell me how to do that I will be glad to post it once again. I will say that I found it by typing in "Zephyr blue and white" in the advanced search window. A second window opens, type the same thing in the keyword window and "Karl" in the user window. The thread came up then. Good luck. Terry Jankowski
Keith, As a railfan and as someone who works in employee development and training, it is a fascinating story and piece of railroad history. Thanks to you and your wife for sharing. Best Regards,
Do you have a higher resolution scan of this page? We think we may have found SLSF 2043 at a lumber yard in York AL. Thanks, Jason Parham
Effective July 1, 1911, the federal government outlawed the placement of wooden postal cars between the locomotive and a steel car, or between two steel cars. That same summer, the Frisco ordered 18, full-postal cars from AC&F. The 2037-2054 series, all-steel cars were delivered to the Frisco during November and December of 1911. Postal Car diagram, my collection. The interior of these cars were reconfigured. From the 1909 roster book that was manually updated. My collection. The earlier threads were "moderated" and need to be edited to include cars 2037 and 2038.
Mike Condren's images of the 2045 and 2056 are on his web site... https://www.condrenrails.com/Frisco Catalog/PASSENGER-CARS.htm
Here's a little bit of trivia for the rivet counters (like me) that also might help to identify the car at the lumber yard I have a copy of the Frisco document, "Historical Record - Passenger Car Equipment," which seems to be current up through about 1967. In it 2043 is noted as - "S.A. (Set Aside?) 10-65. Sold to Luria." An additional note states - Postal fixtures Removed. Side doors widened to 5' 8-1941. 2041 and 2047 have the same postal fixture and side door notes, so their appearance should be about the same. 2041 is also listed as S.A. 10-65 and sold to Luria. 2047 was "destroyed on the MKT 12-12-53." 2054 has the postal fixtures removed notation, with no reference to side doors. This book was apparently modernized or recopied at some point in the 40s or 50s, because only 9 of the original 18 cars have a listing. There's no information about the missing ones. 2040 Explosion at Brush Creek. 2-26-49, 2041 Postal fixtures Removed. Side doors widened to 5' 8-1941. S.A. 10-65. Sold Luria 2042 Dismantled SPG 12-23-57 2043 Postal fixtures Removed. Side doors widened to 5' 8-1941. S.A. 10-65. Sold Luria 2045 Modernized 6-1945. S.A. 9-67. No disposition information. 2047 Postal fixtures Removed. Side doors widened to 5' 8-1941. Destroyed on MKT 12-12-53 2049 Modernized 11-1945. S.A. 9-64 No Disposition information 2050 S.A. 9-64 Dismantled ROW (or RDW) Shop 12-18-64 2054 Postal fixtures Removed. S.A. 10-65. Sold Matisa, Inc Apparently, none of these cars were renumbered for MW service, although 2055 (second) and 2056, the two 70' full length RPOs that were converted from Mail Baggage Express cars 224 and 225, became 108251 and 109124. I'm pretty sure that I've seen more information published about these cars in the past, but it'll take some digging to find it. Dan Hall Fort Smith
