Thursday, July 21, 2011

Great Northern Railroad mail storage express box car used on passenger trains. The Pueblo Railway Museum. Pueblo Colorado USA. 2011.

My cousin Allen took this photo, during a recent vacation road trip to Pueblo Colorado USA.

During the years prior to Amtraks begining in 1971, many North American railroads that were still operating their own passenger trains, utilized these modified box cars to haul bulk mail and less than carload freight parcels aboard passenger trains.

Railroads were losing money on long distance and regional passenger trains, as many people were flying by commercial airlines more and more for their vacation and business travel during the 1950's and 60's.

These cars and the cargos they hauled, helped to subsidize the cost of passenger train operations in their waning years.

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