by Mark Found

My mate's dad, Michael Tyler, used to work on the Travelling Post Office before transfering to Battersea sorting office. Not that you needed to know that, but sometimes it helps. Did his feet in, apparently. And that about summed up my entire knowledge of TPOs, apart from the one I had as a kid that mail bag dropping off thing (until I broke it, naturally).

This was an item that our programme editor, Dave Hatter, wanted to do. He's the sort of bloke that likes to have a go in anything - be it plane, combine harvester or train. A bit like a basher, only more random. I'd no objection to this one, however, and as the TPOs are scheduled to finish later in 2003 it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss.

Many thanks to the Consignia press office who made it all happen, and we arranged to meet at the distribution centre in Willesden at seven thirty in the evening. To be honest, I thought the late hours we were going to spend that evening would be a problem, but in the end adrenaline and enthusiasm kept us going.

The centre is massive, handling an unbelievable amount of mail, and Steve Griffiths, our guide for the night proved very adept at both handling the mail and our questions.

To be honest, I've never really given much thought to the mail once it leaves my hand and enters the letterbox. I just know I want it to be where I want it to be the next day.

I know you may have thought that piece would be all about trains, and I could probably never do the service justice with my explanation, but bear with me, it's all relevant, and here's a go:

I want to post a letter to my aunt, who lives in Plymouth, and I pop it into the letterbox at the end of the road. At about five thirty a postman/woman comes along, empties the letter box, goes round and empties a few others and takes the lot to Cambridge.

Here the mail is given an initial sort and divided up into local and national mail. The national mail, from all the districts around Cambridge is gathered together and taken, by lorry, to Willesden. Here the mail is further sorted into areas and loaded onto to lorries and trains. My letter to my Aunt is going to Plymouth so it's sorted down to go on the Willesden - Plymouth TPO.

TPO's are all about using time efficiently. Instead of my mail sitting in a bag until it gets to Plymouth, the guys on the TPO sort the mail down to local districts - such as Saltash. Truro, Exeter etc. When the mail reaches these districts in the early hours it's merely a matter of sorting down to to the rounds. It's these hours saved on the TPO that means a letter posted in a country lane in Cambridgeshire can be delivered to a house in Plymouth the next morning, and, when you think about it, it's a remarkable achievement isn't it?

So it's all the more sad that the service is going to end. We'll still have our mail delivered the next morning, but the advancement of technology to sort electronically, and a new network of road, rail and air carriers will move it around the country. So, it's not an end to Royal Mail on the railways, but it is an end to the TPOs, and, of course, to the guys and ladies that work in them.

Strange old life, they lead. Workng through the night, no breaks, staying in lodgings at far away locations. They're also totally out of synch with the main populace so social life is a bit limited, but it doesn't seem to worry them at all. In fact, they all seem to positively enjoy it, and only one person that we found on the train had been working the TPOs for under ten years, and that was because he'd only started two weeks previously.

It is sad that it's going - I know I hammed it up on the tele - but I do feel sorry that it's passing into history. It was a remarkable innovation when it was started all those years ago, and it's amazing to think that it's lasted all this time, unchanged. Hats off to you.

Trainspotting.links (will open in a new window)

Mike's History pages
Fabulous site, well worth bunging down on your favourites list. This link takes you to the TPO pages.
The Travelling Post Office
An enthusiasts site, not bad, lots of detail hasn't been updated for a long time. It's also got that animated train running across the page - don't be tempted to do it yourself.
A poem
It's a poem. About the travelling post office.
Friends of M30272M
This lot have a TPO coach as their friend! Each to his own, but a good site.