Travelling Post Office (TPO) train formations

[SpacePhoenix]

Was there any rule of thumb as to the number of stowage coaches that they would have for each sorting coach?

I believe that only TPOs that started or ended in London had PCV coaches, were they found at both ends or just one end (which end - the "London" end or the "Non-London" end)?

Did all TPOs that didn't have any PCVs on the end have a Super BG at both ends of the train?

 

[jopsuk]

The TPOs only had PCVs towards the end of the operations- the vehicles were only converted in the mid 90s!

 

[33056]

PCVs only came into use when the Railnet opened at Willesden in 1996 to enable the West of England trains to propel up to Kensal Green and ECS to access Euston Downside shed.

 

[ExRes]

PCVs only came into use when the Railnet opened at Willesden in 1996 to enable the West of England trains to propel up to Kensal Green and ECS to access Euston Downside shed.

PCVs also operated in the Dover-Willesden-Norwich sets because of the need, when 47 hauled, to propel from Tonbridge to Tonbridge Railnet

Up to the end of 2000, to my knowledge, accessing the Downside Shed was nothing to do with PCVs, all sets were loco hauled out of Euston then propelled back into the shed by ground staff control

 

[sprinterguy]

PCVs were also used on Anglo-Scottish TPO services up the West Coast. There was a nightly turn that used to stable at Carlisle during the day. That service in particular always used to have the PCV at the south end of the train, although I don't know if this was the norm for all services.

As far as I can recall a PCV would be located at only one end of the train.

 

[stopblock]

The Penzance Bristol and return had a super BG on each end.As for stoage vans there wasnt any rules but more as to what formation the post office required. They liked to have the big doors on certain sides of the train for offloading and loading at various points.

 

[30907]

SR 1957: the Dorchester postal had 2 POS 1 POT, the Dover one of each only.
I recall but have no documents the Penzance Bristol around 1970 being a solo POS but with sundry other vans, and the Perth Inverness also a solo.
To avoid confusion POT was Tender ie stowage. POS was Sorting.

 

[Taunton]

They liked to have the big doors on certain sides of the train for offloading and loading at various points.

Not only for loading, but back in the days of lineside postal exchange apparatus (into the 1970s) the nets were only on one side of the vehicle. Therefore unless the set was to be completely turned at both ends of the route, generally impractical, you needed to have equal numbers of exchange vehicles facing each way in a set (some one each side, some two each side), as the lineside equipment was always on the nearside. With the older GWR vehicles, which still had the offset side gangways between vehicles, getting the nets on the correct side and the gangways all on the same side must have been a yard foreman's nightmare that even turning on a turntable wouldn't necessarily overcome!