Description

RPO Mail Express, Car Sides, HO Scale

C&O 15-Foot Apartment RPO (Mail &Express) Car (In use 1930-1955)

3-D printed accurate sides for use in building an
accurate C&O Steel 15-Foot Apartment RPO Cars – Called “Mail &
Express” cars by C&O.

These six cars were built by ACF in 1930 to replace old
wooden/composite cars that were being used mainly on branch line
trains that had the smallest authorization for Railway Post Office
equipment. The 15-foot RPO apartment (where just one clerk
worked) was installed in the 70-foot cars, the remainder being
available for storage mail, express, and baggage. They made an
ideal car for branch line use. A few mainline trains also had only 15-
foot RPO authorizations, so they were sometimes seen on the name
trains as well. In another example, the Big Sandy SD locals had these
cars in use into the mid-1950s.

The Post Office (Railway Mail Service) called them “Apartment
RPOs,” but C&O’s official designation was “Mail &  Express” cars.
This nomenclature applied both to the 15-foot cars such as these
and the larger 30-foot apartment cars.

The modeler can use this car on branch lines or mainline trains
and sitting around terminals where branch line trains started/ended
their runs.

The car sides are 3-D printed from drawings and photos in the
C&OHS collection and are the first accurate designs available.
Modelers can use “donor” parts from kits made by Bethlehem Car
Works, Walters, Athearn, and others.