Penelope Cruz and Daniel Day Lewis film a scene for the musical "Nine" - Date/Photographer unknown.

16 March 2009

Travelling Post Office Demonstration

The Nene Valley Railway near Peterborough will be demonstrating a working TPO (Travelling Post Office) train on the 4 and 5 Apr 2009.
 
The Nene Valley Railway has been building an extensive collection of rail mail travelling post offices and Wagon-Lits rolling stock and memorabilia with the intention of developing the project further with a dedicated Rail Mail museum, supported by the International Railway Preservation Society.
 
The railway owns 9 TPO coaches, 5 new style Mark 1s, an LMS TPO (M30272M, the only surviving coach from the great train robbery), 1 Southern Railway TPO (4920), 1 LMS Full Brake (30976), and a Great Northern TPO (2178, body).
 
Every year several events are held at the railway featuring a rake of TPOs, where visitors can see first hand what working on a TPO coach was really like. This experience includes witnessing the exchange of mail at one of two mail drop off points.
 
When the TPO service ceased in 2004, the Nene Valley Railway was able to acquire 4 Mk1 TPOs from EWS.
 
One of these vehicles was able to be equipped with mail bag exchange equipment and now has a four-set TPO rake of its own.
 
During the interim an 1885 GNR TPO coach body has been acquired as has a fifth Mk1 TPO used by the Railway's civil engineers.
 
David Lynch.