The idea of transporting mail in tubes began many years before the concept of a Post Office Railway was mapped out. In 1853, the first ever mail tube went in to service - just 225 yards (206 metres) long and only 1.5 inches in diameter, it was powered by what was effectively a giant vacuum cleaner and proved to be very successful. Over the next few years various forms of this system were built and tested, even to the point of carrying passengers.
The pneumatic era
In 1859 the Pneumatic Dispatch Company constructed a tube from their premises adjacent to the Post Office’s, North Western District Office on to the Parcel office at Euston Station, and another from Euston Station on to The General Post Office. There were innumerable technical problems and the Post Office would not guarantee mail for the line and the company closed down in 1874. The London Dispatch Company tried to rescue the abandoned lines in 1899, but costs were prohibitive and it too was wound up, the tunnels eventually being used to carry electricity and telephone cables.
Further reading on London’s pneumatic railways here.
Contruction begins
At the beginning of the 20th century London was becoming very congested and the Post Office looked more urgently at their needs to move bulk mail between the major central London sorting offices. In 1908 their engineers visited the Chicago and Berlin freight subway systems in 1911 they comissioned a design for a 6.5 miles long underground link from Whitechapel to Paddington and serving the main sorting offices on the route, with the option of extending the system at various points.
Construction began in 1915, using the Greathead shield system, with hand mining to create stations, but the Great War prevented the installation of electrical systems and the tunnels were used to house some of the Capital’s art collection, from the Tate Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, British Museum and the Wallace Collection.
Track laying was commenced in mid 1924 using 1000 tons of running rail and 160 tons of conductor rail, with the installation of electrical equipment, lifts, conveyors and mail chutes commencing in 1925. With delays caused by the General Strike and problems with the electrical installations, the first section, between Paddington and West Central District Office, was not available for training until February 1927, with the line available for use for that year’s Christmas parcel post. February 1928 saw the first letter post on the system.
Although the main tube is at a depth of around 70 foot, the stations are constructed at a much shallower depth, giving a 1 in 20 rise and fall, into and out of the station. Mail had less distance to travel from the platforms to the surface; and the gradient on the line, to and from the station, helped slow the trains on their approach and improved acceleration away from the station.
The facts are fascinating:
Picture of the control room here. Train at Mount Pleasant here and here. Unofficial MailRail site here.
Here is some further reading about this unique solution to the problem of transporting large volumes of mail across a congested capital city.
'Mail By Rail'
'Mail By Rail' by Peter Johnson. Publishers Ian Allan.
ISBN 0-7110-2385-9
An excellent book, containing much information about the Post Office Railway and the Traveling Post Office, with many photos.
'Mails Under London'
'Mails Under London' by L C Stanway. Publishers Association of Essex Philatelic Societies. ISBN 0 9535398 1 4
A complete history of the transportation of mail beneath the streets of London during the 19th & 20th centuries. Includes details on the Pneumatic Dispatch Company and The Post Office Railway.
This book can be purchased from the Association of Essex Philatelic Societies.
'The Post Office Railway London'
'The Post Office Railway London' by Derek A Bayliss. Publishers Turntable Publications.
A complete history of the Post Office Railway up to 1978. Includes a chapter on the 'The Pneumatic Dispatch Company'. Believed to be out of print.
'Secret London'
'Secret London' by Andrew Duncun. Publishers New Holland Publishers (UK) ISBN 1859746756.
Details not only about the Post Office Railway system, but also the London sewer system, disused Underground railway stations and little known tunnels.
'London Under London'
'London Under London' by Richard Trench & Ellis Hillman. Publishers John Murray Ltd. ISBN 0-7195-5288-5.
A comprehensive analysis of subterranean London. Covers the London sewerage systems, utilities tunnels, rail tunnels and tunnels that were never brought into use.
The Fat Controller - a memory of runnning the line
For 75 years, the "secret" railway carried letters and parcels across London. Now the Mail Rail is closed, Amanda Smith recalls her time guiding the miniature trains.
“I’ve been with Royal Mail for 19 years, 16 of which I’ve worked on Mail Rail. I started off as an administrator, and then I got promoted to controller - so I’m the Fat Controller, as it were.
I was based at the Mount Pleasant sorting office in Farringdon, where the station is about 70 feet below ground. Coming out of the lift onto the platform, it looks not dissimilar to the London Underground. The station is a miniature version of the Tube at platform level, although the trains themselves are nothing like Tube trains - there’s no driver, for one thing.
Each platform - one eastbound, one west - has three berths so three trains can be loaded with mail at a time.
But these days we only use one berth as the volume of mail has dropped. Years ago, we loaded and unloaded trains right the way up - it was a hive of activity, you couldn’t hear yourself think.
Each station used to have its own controller, but today it’s centralised and run by computer. There’s two controllers on shift at a time, and we rotate duties. For two weeks I’m upstairs at the controls and the next fortnight I’m what’s known as a travelling inspector, going to the different stations, making sure that everything’s running okay.
The screen gives us two views of the railway - an overview of the network, and one on which we can focus on a particular station. It shows us every section of track, where each train is, and if there’s any faults - which is very rare - we can let the engineers know where to find it.
Working here has always been like being part of a great big family - literally in some cases, as brothers and fathers and sons have worked here together. And most people who join retire here - not many have left to go to other jobs. So we’ve all been working together for years - the most junior person has been with Mail Rail eight years.
We used to have big Christmas parties down here for kids from the local children’s home, with the platform decorated like Santa’s Grotto and this secret train for delivering presents.
There’s a passenger carriage that only comes out for special occasions and I cadged a lift on it one day. We rode from here to Paddington and it was quite a bumpy ride. We were all packed in tight - we had to sit two to a row - but at least that stopped us rolling about too much. In between stations it was often pitch black, so it was like London’s biggest ghost ride.
My last shift is on Friday, and then my colleagues on nights will close it down on Saturday morning. I doubt we’ll give the railway a send off this week, as we’ll be too upset to do anything. I’m not sure what I’m going to do next, whether I’ll stay with Royal Mail or go somewhere else.
I wish I could remember the first time I came down here, but I’m sure I was quite amazed - I’m still amazed by it now. People are so surprised that Royal Mail has a secret railway, and I’ll be one of the few who can say I worked here. I’m proud of that.“
Interview with BBC News, 29.5.03
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