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United States Railway Mail Service postmark collection
MS 685  
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Collection Overview
 
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Description
Includes sixteen envelopes and fifty-six postcards with Railway Mail Service (RMS) or Postal Transportation Service (PTS) cancels.
Background
The Railway Mail Service (RMS), a Department of the United States Post Office, and its successor the Postal Transportation Service (PTS), carried most of the mail in the United States between 1890 and 1970. Established in 1869, the Railway Mail Service provided for the movement of mail by train. Highly trained RMS postal clerks staffed the Railway Post Office (RPO), a separate car on a passenger train. Mail sorted en route, received a cancellation just as if it had been mailed at a local post office. On October 1, 1948, the Railway Mail Service was renamed the Postal Transportation Service. The last railway post office car operated between New York and Washington, D.C. on June 30, 1977.
Extent
1 half-box
Restrictions
Copyright has not been assigned to the California State Railroad Museum. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the CSRM Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the CSRM as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Availability
This collection is open for research at our off-site storage facility with one week's notice. Contact Library & Archives staff to arrange for access.