Reading Company RPO/Mail Cars
The RPO was a hallmark of rail transportation in the 19th and early 20th centuries as the United States Postal Service relied on American railroads to carry mail from coast to coast. In fact, mail traffic at least in part subsidized passenger operations for the railroads, and ultimately it was the cancellation of the US Mail contracts after World War II that was a major factor in the significant contraction of rail passenger service across the country and the eventual formation of Amtrak. While the Reading's RPO fleet was not overly large, again due to the relatively small scope of its overall passenger traffic, they did roster several classes of cars up to the early 1960s. Clicking the links below will open the reference document in a separate window; clicking the camera icon (where available) will display a photo in a separate window.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have photos of the "missing" classes not shown below that you'd be willing to share, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. !
| MBc 1722-1725 | MBe 1751-1766 | MBg 1759-1764 | |
| MBj 1750 | MBl 1748-1749 | MBn 1700 | |
| MBp 1730-1734 | MBr 1720-1744 |
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Downloads
A variety of Reading Company operations related documents, etc. that may be of use in your modeling efforts.
A variety of Reading Company operations paperwork, such as train orders, clearance forms, etc. that will help you operate your Reading layout in a prototypical manner.
Public Timetables, Employe Timetables, and Rulebooks that provide much useful operational information.
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Downloadable reference documents on the various classes of Reading Company Freight and Passenger rolling stock.