Never an easy life

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1906 photograph of the London and North Western Railway disaster at Shrewsbury showing wrecked carriages

Between 1860 and 1867, there were 28 serious accidents and two deaths attributed to the unreliable locomotives and rolling stock on the railways at that time.  TPOs were also involved in several large rail crashes. Two of the most disastrous incidents were at Shrewsbury in 1906 (see picture above), and the collapse of the Tay Bridge in 1879. The image below shows mail recovered from the bottom of the River Tay and marked accordingly.

Image of mail recovered from the River Tay following the collapse of the Tay Bridge on 28 December 1879

The Great Train Robbery
Danger also came in other forms. In 1963, on the night of 8 August, a daring robbery was carried out on the Glasgow to London 'Up Special’.  Known as the Great Train Robbery, over £2.5 million was stolen. This raid forced the Post Office to adopt stricter safety measures on its TPOs.

Safety Bulletins were introduced on TPOs in the 1970s, to inform staff of the dangers of the working environment and to give tips on manual handling and health and safety. Safety had greatly improved by this point, but one of the remaining risks at this time was having an elastic band flicked in your face by a colleague!


Creature comforts?
Facilities were also a problem on the early TPOs. It was a while before toilets were introduced and kitchen facilities were non existent. Following an accident where a postal worker was killed while relieving himself at the rear of a sorting carriage, the installation of toilets was strongly recommended. 

1970s photograph of a TPO worker making tea in a very small kitchen space 2004 photograph of three TPO workers perched on a sorting frame to enjoy a break

Basic welfare facilities such as an urn and small food warmer were eventually installed on more modern TPOs. These changes came slowly as space was at a premium in the carriages and such installations reduced valuable working areas.

Toil, tears and sweat
On the early TPOs officers often worked 40 nights consecutively, in order to keep their ‘trip allowance’. Breaks during a working day were also scarce and could only be taken during quieter moments as sorting needed to be finished before the next station.

"Those men who…get their work well forward will venture to bring out their supper, so that they may snatch a few mouthfuls as they are finishing up; but alas…a relish is provided in the shape of smoke, thick enough to taste, which is enough to choke any man off eating."

 Alfred K. Jacobs
'Life on the TPO', The Post, 18 August 1894