Bachmann OO BR Mk.1 POS Post Office Red Royal Mail Travelling Post Office (39-435)

A highly detailed model of the British railways Mk.1 series post office sorting vans, built in the 1950s to re-equip the Royal Mail travelling post office trains. The POS was a sorting van, containing pigeon holes for the post office crew to sort letters while the train was moving. Some of these ocaches were also fitted with exchange apparatus, drop arms and a large catcher net, to allow mail to be dropped and collected from the lineside without stopping, but this practice had ceased by the 1970s.

This model represents the final era of the Travelling Post Office, the coaches having been repainted into Post Office red. This vehicle carries the Royal Mail Travelling Post Office lettering.

By the late 1980s Travelling Post Office trains were operated as separate trains formed of the TPO POS (Post Office Sorting) sorting vans, POT (Post Office Tender) stowage vans plus extra BG (Brake Gangwayed) vans, some of which were painted in the same Post Office red colours. The post office and BG vans had corridor connections, allowing bagged mail to be moved between coaches as required for sorting. Other vans, eg. the end door equiped general utility vans (GUV) were often attached carrying pre-sorted and bagged mail.

While TPO services ran mostly at night some had an early start, setting out about 7pm where an out-and-back trip could be done (eg. the Bristol-Derby Postal) and the coaches needed to be cleaned, serviced and stabled during the day, offering useful shunting moves and activities for the modeller to recreate.