Reply to "Were regular trainmen issued sidearms as standard equipment by the Railroads in the early days?"

My father worked for the US Post Office / Postal Service 1943-1974. His first job was as a Mail Handler, going from the downtown Minneapolis post office to the nearby Milwaukee Road and Great Northern stations to pick up incoming mail and to deliver outgoing mail to the trains. He was issued a revolver when on that job, he said normally he got a very long-barreled pistol from like the Spanish-American War era. The main post office had it's own armorer in the basement, who according to Dad really knew his stuff and kept all the weapons in top-flight condition. Dad said the RPO clerks generally had very small sidearms. He noted that most RPO clerks had 'the shakes' from all the years bouncing around on a train, and he didn't think they would do a very good job shooting if ever called on to do so.