Mail by Rail Event 13th/14th July

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Discover how the railways carried the mail and how it was sorted on the journey.

In the days gone by nearly all the country’s mail was moved by rail. It would have been exchanged on the move from specialised coaches called ‘Travelling Post Office’ (TPO) Coaches on routes all across the country. Peterborough in particular was central to the UK’s distribution network. The Nene Valley Railway is one of the few places in the country that this spectacle can be seen. Come and visit us on the 13th/14th July for our Mail by Rail event where we will have one of the largest and most diverse collections of road and rail postal vehicles in the country on display over the weekend.

(All items are subject to availability and confirmation)

Please note all items and displays will now appear at Wansford due to opperational reasons.

Timetable available by clicking here

TPO Drops will leave Wansford for Sutton Cross at 11.30, 13.15 and 15.00

Loco Alocations:

LOCO

73050

73050

CL 31

CL 31

73050

73050

CL 31

CODE

2E01

2B01 TPO

2E06

2B05 TPO

2E10

2B08 TPO

2E15

SERVICE

10:00

11:30

11:45

13:15

13:30

1500

15:15

 

Normal fares apply.

On display at Wansford will be:

  • Mobile Post Office 2 - Our newly aquired Commer Karrier Road vehicle
  • A collection of vehicles from the Post Office Vehicle Club. We are warmly welcoming our friends the the Post Office Vehicle Club, with a number of vehicles hopefully on display throughout the weekend, noteably on the Saturday. For more information, click here.
  • London Post Office Railway 2ft Underground unit no. 807 (Subject to conformation)
  • Post Office Motorbike – Kawasaki Z250 Datapost
  • LMS TPO no M30272M – The last surviving coach of the Great Train Robbery. See the progress of our painstaking 20 year restoration of this coach. 
  • Southern TPO No. 4920 – Complete with our current TPO museum on Platform 4
  • Our Mark 1 TPO vehicles when not performing mail drops at Sutton Cross (Please note, access may be restricted at times due to operational reasons)
  • The Nene Valley Railway's Railway Letters Service
  • Night Mail Museum Shop and Display
  • A marquee will be available to relax in, complete with real ale.

Our British Railways TPOs will be performing mail exchanges throughout the day at our TPO apparatus at Sutton Cross (Around a mile East of Wansford). This will be accessible by train (Travelling on the TPOs) or on foot. (We regret there is no disabled access here due to the nature of the site and the vehicles).

We have recently taken delivery of a number of historic vehicles from our friends at the British Postal Museum and archive. Star of place is Mobile Post Office 2, a 1971 built Karrier road vehicle. This vehicle will be on display and open for inspection throughout the weekend at Wansford.

How to find us:

Wansford Station:
Turn off the A1 at the new Stibbington fly over, which is 1 mile south of the A1 / A47 interchange and 4 miles north of the end of the A1(M). Look for the large brown "Nene Valley Railway" signs on both the A1 and A47.
Note: Avoid Wansford village on the opposite side of the A1.
Parking: Free
Sat Nav: PE8 6LR

 

For other stations see http://www.nvr.org.uk/how-to-find-us