Atlantic Coast Line Post Office 7

Built in 1912 by the Pressed Steel Car Company in Pennsylvania for the Atlantic Coast Line to be used as a post office car. During the 19th century, the United States Postal Service operated by mail, getting sorted at the post office and sorted into bags, which were then transported by horse or train to other post offices and onto their final destinations. George Armstrong was the Post manager in Chicago. He invented the ability to have mail sorted on the train as it was en route. Illinois at the time. This was so the mail pouches were ready to go when the mail arrived at the destination city. The last run of the Railway Post Office was from New York to Washington, DC in 1977. The United States had 6 operating divisions. Each of these divisions had a superintendent. Armstrong was the General Manager for the Railway Mail Service. In 1913, the postal service started delivering parcels, which led to terminal railway post offices in major cities that had a high volume of mail services reaching their peak in the 1920s. In 1955, this post office car was modernized in North Carolina. However, automobiles and commercial aviation took over transporting mail, which made the railroads lose business slowly, starting on branch lines and secondary routes, and then many other routes were abandoned up to 1967. Passenger routes were also getting discontinued during this time. The last run of the Railway Post Office was from New York to Washington, DC in 1977. This post office car was then used for merged lines and for maintenance-of-way trains until it retired. It is now awaiting restoration at the North Florida Railroad Museum.