IRM RPO Days ? June 13 and 14
June 13 and 14 (Saturday and Sunday) will feature former RPO (Railway Post
Office) clerks at the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM). Eight or more former
clerks are expected to be on site with most on Saturday. Many of these men
will be making their first catches from a moving RPO for the first time in over
40 years.
An additional highlight will be the Union, Illinois Post Office canceling mail
with a special cancellation remembering the adjacent UP (former C&NW) rail line
where the Chicago & Freeport RPO once operated. IRM will be selling cachets
with the special postal cancellation as a fundraiser to repaint the RPO car
(former CB&Q 1923).
Without the assistance of numerous volunteers at IRM, this event could not take
place. The Passenger Car Department is preparing CB&Q 1923 (combination
baggage and RPO) for this event. The Operating Department is altering the
normal operation of the diesel coach train to allow two mail catches on each
run. Thank you all at IRM for recreating the RPO operation.
RPO catches began at IRM with the donation of a mail crane three years ago. In
September 2007, N.J. Shacklette and John Rothwell arranged for Andy Koval, a
former RPO clerk dying of cancer to make one more catch. A year later, in
September 2008, with the encouragement of Shacklette and Rothwell, I arranged
for both Frank Scheer, curator of the Railway Mail Service Library in Boyce,
Virginia, and Ed DeRouin, author of Moving Mail and Express by Rail (2007), to
come to IRM and tell the story of the RPO. The 2008 event brought four former
clerks to IRM to each make anther catch. One of last year's participants was
so excited that he is bringing five other former clerks to the Museum on June
13 and 14.
Unlike 2008, there no formal talks are planned. Instead, the RPO clerks will
do the talking. This year's RPO days at IRM does two things. First, this
event brings together 8 or more former clerks to share their experiences with
visitors and to have the opportunity to make another catch. Second, this event
allows these former clerks to share their stories of working on the rails with
the public.
Come on out to IRM on June 13 and 14 to meet these former clerks. The website
for IRM is www.irm.org.
I thank all at IRM who are making this event possible and for the former clerks
traveling to IRM to share their stories.
Jon Habegger
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