Central Pacific Railroad mail car model

c. 1870-1885

This model has a window and door arrangement similar to an 1870s Railway Post Office (RPO) car, but it may not accurately reflect route agent or RPO equipment used on the Central Pacific. A known plan from the Central Pacific depicts a mail car with a walkway from end-to-end along a recessed outside wall and without end doors. Such an arrangement allowed the train’s crew to move past the car without entering it. End doors on open-platform cars posed a security risk, since a would-be robber could attempt forcible entry into the postal car from a concealed position.