Talk:1838 in rail transport

message: George M. Pullman nor Webster Wagner is any more entitled to the right of being called the inventor of the sleeping car than the man in the moon is entitled to be called the inventor of the sewing machine.
As to Pullman (being of Erie interest), his chief claim to the monopoly in the sleeping-car patent was founded on his control as assignee of patents issued to Eli Wheeler, of Elmira, September 20, 1859, which patents Rudolph Dirks, of Sumneystown, Pa., claims were his; but even the Wheeler patents were antedated by the Charles McGraw patents more than twenty years—December 10, 1838, being the first one.
Sleeping cars were in use years before Pullman or Wagner was ever heard of, and among the very earliest of railroads to have them was the Erie, which had two in 1843, although the railroad was only three hours' journey in length.
These cars were two of six cars of extraordinary size, built by John Stephenson, one of the pioneer car builders of the country.
The models of the cars were made by Thomas Brown, of the Stephenson works, then in Harlem.
They were not intended as sleeping cars, as the term is now known but to be used by passengers if they chose, for reclining and sleeping during their journey.
Railroads were not long enough in those days to require much night travel.
http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/erscar.Html
Wdew 20:04, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: December 10: 1st patent sleeping-car?

message: The Travelling Post Office (TPO)
As early as 1826 Rowland Hill had written about the possibility of sorting letters along the road in specially fitted mail coaches. Despite the fact that mail was first carried by train on 11th November 1830, it took a further seven years before George Karstadt, a Post Office Surveyor, first suggested the idea of using special railway carriages for the sorting of mail whilst en route. This lead to an experimental Travelling Post Office (TPO) on the Grand Junction Railway between Birmingham and Warrington.
The first TPO was a converted horse box and was manned by Edward Ellis and Henry Mellersh together with George Karstadt’s son, Frederick. The first journey undertaken by the TPO took place on 20 January 1838. This trial was so successful that, within a couple of months, a Bill was passed which obliged Railway Companies to provide a separate carriage for sorting letters en route. The first train carrying a purpose-built sorting carriage ran from Euston to Denbigh Hall, where the mail was transferred to mail coaches to continue the journey by road. ...
In 1859 agreement was reached for the Night Mail trains to and from the north to have strictly limited passenger accommodation and increased postal facilities, and in 1885 Special Mails, trains devoted solely for Post Office purposes, were introduced. 1885 also saw the first parcels sorted en route. ... With the introduction of a two-tier postal system in 1968, it was decided to sort only first class mail on the TPOs. ...
http://postalheritage.org.uk/history/downloads/BPMA_Info_Sheet_TravellingPostOffice_web.pdf
Wdew (talk) 10:20, 16 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: 1st journey Travelling Post Office

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* http://www.railfanclub.org/archives/newsletters/January05/ThisMonth.htm
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--JeffGBot (talk) 22:49, 1 June 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dead link