Railroad

While horse drawn carriages and handcarts brought mail from house to house, the railroad played a significant role in transporting mail from town to town across the country. Railway cars were used to sort mail en route. At each stop, the train would slow down and the postal clerk would pass the mail bag off to another train or a crane on the platform. Railway Mail Service officially began in 1864 and continued to thrive until 1958. As can be see in the image below, the train cars used for the mail service displayed "United States Railway Mail Service."

Railway Mail Car: Image courtesy of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum online exhibit

When Railway Mail Service began in 1864, mail was exchanged on nonstop trains by hand. Trains were slowed down so clerks could pass the mail off to one another. Shortly thereafter, this dangerous system was replaced with wooden F-shaped cranes placed trackside. The wooden cranes were soon replaced by a simple steel hook and crane, seen in the image below.

Mail Crane: Image courtesy of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum online exhibit