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1
435
Her Majesty's Mails
·
William Lewins
272
"In
ten
minutes,"
continues
the
narrator,
"the
omnibuses
are
emptied
of
their
contents,
and
the
train
of
carriages
is
then
wound
up
to
the
station
at
Camden
Town,
where
the
engine
is
attached,
and
the
Primrose
Hill
tunnel
soon
prevents
us
hearing
the
thunder
of
their
rapid
progress."
The
Londoner
of
1864,
in
these
days
of
metropolitan
railways
can
afford
to
smile
at
this
last
sentence.
That
the
change
in
the
system
of
mail
conveyance
wrought
immediate
and
striking
improvement
at
the
Post-Office
does
not
admit
of
question.
In
a
contemporary
account,
we
find
an
interesting
but
wonder-stricken
writer
stating
that
"by
means
of
the
extra
railway
facilities,
letters
now
pass
along
this
line
(London
and
Birmingham)
in
a
space
of
time
so
inconceivably
quick,
that
some
time
must
elapse
before
our
ideas
become
accustomed
to
such
a
rapid
mode
of
intercourse."
We
learn
from
different
works
published
by
Mr.
Charles
Knight,
that
when
the
railways
were
extended
farther
northwards,
the
Railway
Post-Office
was
extended
with
them,
and
was
formed
into
sections.
Thus,
when
the
lines
were
continued
north
as
far
as
Lancaster,
there
were
two
divisions
formed,
one
staff
of
clerks,
&c.
to
the
number
of
eight,
working
between
London
and
Birmingham,
and
ten
between
Birmingham
and
Lancaster.[156]
There
were
two
mails
each
day
in
both
directions.
The
distance
between
London
and
Lancaster
(241
miles)
was
accomplished
in
eleven
hours
and
a
half.
The
weight
of
the
railway
post-office,
tender,
bags,
and
clerks,
is
stated
by
Mr.
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