Walter Stadnick personal RPO handstamp
Railway Post Office (RPO) clerks purchased rubber stamps to mark facing slips and pouch/sack labels with their name, RPO route, train number, and date. Clerks were accountable for correctly sorting mail. If missent mail was discovered in their work by a receiving unit, the error was noted and sent to the district office of the Railway Mail Service (RMS)/Postal Transportation Service (PTS). The chief clerk assigned demerits for the error under the Service Rating System.
Its final run occurring on June 30, 1977, the New York & Washington RPO route was the last rail-operated RPO in the USA. Train 108 appeared in passenger timetables and was named "The Edison." This style of 'clerk's dater' or 'clerk's personal postmark' was manufactured by postal supply houses between the 1930s and 1950s. Advertisements appeared in THE RAILWAY POST OFFICE and the POSTAL TRANSPORT JOURNAL. These were monthly magazines printed for members of the Railway Mail Association (pre-1949) and the National Postal Transport Association (after 1949).
