Purpose of Express (REA) Cars???

Think of Railway Express as the FedEx of their day.  Fast delivery meant Railway Express.  The cars moved in passenger trains or in mail/express trains run on passenger schedules.

Normally, Railway Express Agency express reefers ran in passenger trains.  The baggage cars of most railroads in the latter part of railroad passenger service also carried Railway Express Agency shipments, were lettered to reflect this, and sometimes carried an express messenger employed by Railway Express.  In other cases the railroad's Baggageman (from the Brakeman roster) handled the Railway Express as well as the baggage and Company RRB mail.

Railway Express employees delivered express shipments to consignees by truck from stations with enough business to warrant it.

Thanks!

From what I found on the internet, The Feds established the REA and took whatever money the got and distributed it to the RRs.

The REA had their own trucks, buildings, etc so all the RRs had to do was move the cars.

Not a need to know but, I guess that when a passenger train arrived they uncoupled the REA car(s) and spotted them at a nearby REA office/building so they could be unloaded.  Did REA employees perform the work or was that also given to the RRs do to?

I'll keep things simple and run the REA car only with my passenger train.

Bob,

May I suggest getting the book "Moving Mail and Express by Rail"? Lots of great info.

ChipR

Thanks ChipR, I'll give it a look.

From what some of my books say, mail and express were coming to an end by the mid-late 60s, but that may have just been on certain RRs like Seaboard.

Bob, here is a good website with info on mail and express shipments:

http://sh1.webring.com/people/...ailwayExpressHistory

Not sure about Seaboard, but I have several photos of REA refrigerator cars on the Santa Fe at the head end of a express mail train loaded with strawberries, potatoes, live plants, tropical fish, just about anything that required stable temps, either cold or warm, to get to a destination quickly. They had their own employees to unload the cars at the REA terminal.  

-Glenn 

Thanks Glenn!

Did you see the photo of the female REA agent "packing" her pistola?!?!?!

Some locations did have enough REA business to have their own terminals near passenger stations/terminals, and cars awitched to/from them.

What is nice about express modeling is that you can have an express box painted for your favorite passenger train, and hove it in your train and it would be correct.

Example:  I have GN boxes in EB colors, and UP in TTG, and I have them as head end cars on PRR passenger trains.

And don't forget:  ATSF, UP, SP, PRR and others had trains JUST for mail and express.  Those trains could have a riot of color, and be correct.

Also, some of the Lionel 6464 boxcars were painted in express box colors.  The RI silver and green cars come to mind.  (6464 are not scale)