Thronateeska Heritage Center in Albany, GA is in the process of restoring Atlantic Coast Line RPO 13 to its appearance c.1953 when rebuilt from Class F-9 Mail-Baggage No. 700 to Class D-7 No. 13. Unfortunately, the interior was gutted when the car went into MOW service, so only the exterior restoration is being undertaken at this point.

We need a pattern or drawings of a standard mail bag hook that would have been positioned at each door. The brackets for the hooks are still on the car, but I have not been able to come up with a good illustration of the hook so we can fabricate replacements.

I would guess that the hooks were of a standard design, as were the RPO interiors. Does anyone know of drawings that could be copied or purchased to help with this restoration?

Thanks,
Stephen

P.S., for a photo of this car see the archived article from February 2002, "Gettin' It Together in Albany - Georgia That Is."

syfrettinc@bellsouth.net

> Thronateeska Heritage Center in Albany, GA
> is in the process of restoring Atlantic
> Coast Line RPO 13 to its appearance c.1953
> when rebuilt from Class F-9 Mail-Baggage No.
> 700 to Class D-7 No. 13. Unfortunately, the
> interior was gutted when the car went into
> MOW service, so only the exterior
> restoration is being undertaken at this
> point.
I would try the US Postal Service. They might have a historical branch that could point you in the right direction. In Canada all mail hooks were standard and were made to Post Office specs.
> We need a pattern or drawings of a standard
> mail bag hook that would have been
> positioned at each door. The brackets for
> the hooks are still on the car, but I have
> not been able to come up with a good
> illustration of the hook so we can fabricate
> replacements.

> I would guess that the hooks were of a
> standard design, as were the RPO interiors.
> Does anyone know of drawings that could be
> copied or purchased to help with this
> restoration?

> Thanks,
> Stephen

> P.S., for a photo of this car see the
> archived article from February 2002,
> "Gettin' It Together in Albany -
> Georgia That Is."


http://www.wcra.org
gferguson@aebc.com

Stephen,

If you get any leads, our group would also be very interested. We own two former RPO's (one PRR and one ex-NYC from the 'Empire State Express' NYC #5021 'Alonzo B. Cornell'). Both of our cars are gutted as well, but the brackets exist on the outside. I have been working on the exterior restoration of our NYC RPO as it acts as our HEP car and our stores car for our all stainless coach set. I always thought it would be neat to have a replica hook or two to add to the car.

Thanks and good luck on your project!

Until later,
Chris



Rochester & Genesee Valley RR Museum

crhauf@frontiernet.net

Couldn't help but notice, 2 RPO's with no interiors ...how many are there out there with remains of original insides ? Would it be be considered a gaffe if one were to gut the original interior of an existing RPO to make a concession car ? Would anyone be interested in the interior ?

lamontdc@adelphia.net

> Thronateeska Heritage Center in Albany, GA
> is in the process of restoring Atlantic
> Coast Line RPO 13 to its appearance c.1953
> when rebuilt from Class F-9 Mail-Baggage No.
> 700 to Class D-7 No. 13. Unfortunately, the
> interior was gutted when the car went into
> MOW service, so only the exterior
> restoration is being undertaken at this
> point.

I would suggest contacting the U.S. Postal Museum in Washington, D.C. It's right next to Union Station and is one of Washington's best kept secrets. They have a mock-up Southern Rwy. RPO with complete interior.

> We need a pattern or drawings of a standard
> mail bag hook that would have been
> positioned at each door. The brackets for
> the hooks are still on the car, but I have
> not been able to come up with a good
> illustration of the hook so we can fabricate
> replacements.

> I would guess that the hooks were of a
> standard design, as were the RPO interiors.
> Does anyone know of drawings that could be
> copied or purchased to help with this
> restoration?

> Thanks,
> Stephen

> P.S., for a photo of this car see the
> archived article from February 2002,
> "Gettin' It Together in Albany -
> Georgia That Is."


wrj494@aol.com

> Would it
> be be considered a gaffe if one were to gut
> the original interior of an existing RPO to
> make a concession car?
Personally I think that if the removed fittings could be reused to restore another RPO it would be acceptable. Some restoration purists many disagree with me.
> Would anyone be
> interested in the interior?
I can't speak offically for their interest, but I know that Mid-Continent Railway Museum has a SOO Line (Wisconsin Central) RPO that was partially stripped for MOW service that they need interior fittings for to restore it.

Allan


Wisconsin Central #1513

ddg14@attbi.com

> I would suggest contacting the U.S. Postal
> Museum in Washington, D.C. It's right next
> to Union Station and is one of Washington's
> best kept secrets. They have a mock-up
> Southern Rwy. RPO with complete interior.

This is a fiberglass and plywood replica of 30 feet of the exterior of a Southern RPO, at floor level for ADA access. I'm told it's a SR car because Norfolk Southern ante'd up for its construction (something they probably wouldn't do for an RPO still on its wheels at a railroad museum in the boondocks). The interior furniture came from GTW RPO 9683 (ACF, 1913), rearranged to make a 30-foot RPO. This car had been the shop car of Project 1225 at Michigan State University in the 1970's, and was sold to the Midwest Railroad Historical Foundation (4070 group) at Cleveland in the 1980's and eventually scrapped for its wheels. Any aging 1225 workers from the seventies walking into the Postal Museum can see the parcel racks that used to be full of Berkshire parts carefully cleaned and painted to correct Postal Service green. Even the Duner hopper and Pullman sink are restored (and the curators were bright enough to screw the toilet seat down, lest it be used). The most fabulous detail of this restoration is the frame for the electrical inspection form, which instead contains the instructions for starting an auxiliary generator typed up by the 1225 clerk in 1973, carefully preserved to Smithsonian standards.

A bag hook may have gone with this car, but whether MRHF is willing to deal on it is unknown. These were very heavy steel bars with tapered, curled ends, clamped together with two castings riveted together, with a wooden lever handle and a keeper key on one pivot. Casting, riveting, woodwork and blacksmithing would be required to replicate it - laborious but not difficult.

The Postal Museum is indeed a neat museum. My favorite exhibit was the 1930's airmail plane with the bag hook for, literally, picking bags up on the fly.

Aarne Frobom
(MSU, class of 1974)
The Steam Railroading Institute
P. O. Box 665
Owosso, MI 48867-0665

> Thronateeska Heritage Center in Albany, GA
> is in the process of restoring Atlantic
> Coast Line RPO 13 to its appearance c.1953
> when rebuilt from Class F-9 Mail-Baggage No.
> 700 to Class D-7 No. 13. Unfortunately, the
> interior was gutted when the car went into
> MOW service, so only the exterior
> restoration is being undertaken at this
> point.

> We need a pattern or drawings of a standard
> mail bag hook that would have been
> positioned at each door. The brackets for
> the hooks are still on the car, but I have
> not been able to come up with a good
> illustration of the hook so we can fabricate
> replacements.

> I would guess that the hooks were of a
> standard design, as were the RPO interiors.
> Does anyone know of drawings that could be
> copied or purchased to help with this
> restoration?

> Thanks,
> Stephen

> P.S., for a photo of this car see the
> archived article from February 2002,
> "Gettin' It Together in Albany -
> Georgia That Is."

Orange Empire Railway Museum has a Santa Fe RPO (ATSF 60)with complete interior. It is sometimes opened for rail festivals and other special events. I think it has the catcher hook. We also have a trackside crane in storage.
Bob Davis

brunettedavis@aol.com

Any aging 1225 workers from the seventies
> walking into the Postal Museum can see the
> parcel racks that used to be full of
> Berkshire parts carefully cleaned and
> painted to correct Postal Service green.

This raises yet another question for the ACL 13 restoration. What would be the appropriate color to paint the interior walls of the car, since the fixtures will not be present?

> These were very heavy steel bars
> with tapered, curled ends, clamped together
> with two castings riveted together, with a
> wooden lever handle and a keeper key on one
> pivot. Casting, riveting, woodwork and
> blacksmithing would be required to replicate
> it - laborious but not difficult.

If I can get a scaled drawing we could fabricate a simple replacement with welded steel tube and rod, bent to the appropriate shape. I just need something to go by other than photos of RPO cars. We've already done a restoration/ replication working only from photos, and obviously it would be much simpler to work from a scaled drawing.

G. Mark, might you have an actual hook at TVRM that I could come up and take measurements from to build a pseudo replica?

Stephen



syfrettinc@bellsouth.net

I'm looking for interior parts as part of the restoration for my 7600. I also need the exterior brackets and hook.

Thanks,
Gerald W. Kopiasz

> Couldn't help but notice, 2 RPO's with no
> interiors ...how many are there out there
> with remains of original insides ? Would it
> be be considered a gaffe if one were to gut
> the original interior of an existing RPO to
> make a concession car ? Would anyone be
> interested in the interior ?


hrrhs@aol.com

The museum at Spencer has a complete RPO on display in their roundhouse, complete with mailbags, sorting tables, etc. They also have a crane near the station, which I am told they use occassionally for demonstrations of mail pickup. It's a bit closer than Orange Empire.

K4s1361@hotmail.com

I think the N&W RPO car at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke has a mail hook you might be able to use for measurements. I know it existed when the museum was in the park, not sure following the move.

hcastle@rcn.com

> This is a fiberglass and plywood replica of
> 30 feet of the exterior of a Southern RPO,
> at floor level for ADA access. I'm told it's
> a SR car because Norfolk Southern ante'd up
> for its construction (something they
> probably wouldn't do for an RPO still on its
> wheels at a railroad museum in the
> boondocks).

The story as I remember it . . . Jim Bistline offered to donate his RPO to the Postal Museum, but they determined that the car itself was too big/heavy to actually be used as an exhibit, so they measured his car and employed it as the prototype for the exhibit. As I recall Bistline's RPO was stored in the Washington area, probably Gaithersburg, MD, at the time.

Alan Maples

AMaples@aol.com

The Museum of Transportation in St. Louis has three RPO-Baggage cars (CB&Q #1942, SSW #71 and Frisco #251 "Normandy") and we have at least two mail pick-up hooks, as these are mounted on two of the cars. One might be made available to use as a pattern to a reputable person and surely for measuring. Contact me off list to work this out.

Museum of Transportation
ron_goldfeder@stlouisco.com