Having been rail enthusiasts all our lives and travelled by train in all corners of the world, it is rather ironic that a journey that had eluded us was one which took place every day right here in Britain. The few glimpses we'd had from dark platforms into the hallowed interiors of Travelling Post Offices had been tantalising to say the least. Now at last, here we were on the cold, rain-lashed platforms of Penzance on the evening of November 17, waiting to fill a large gap in our ledger of railway experiences. The stock of the 19.30 TPO for Bristol was backed down 20 minutes before departure time, propelled by Type 5 No. 67005 Queen's Messenger, one of the 125mph, 3,200hp locomotives bought specially by EWS for this type of work and soon to be looking for new, less suitable, jobs. Our train, the Penzance-Bristol TPO (reporting number 1C01) starts from Penzance but doesn't carry any mail until it gets to Truro. This is because the Cornish capital no longer has sufficient spare sidings in which to hold the stock before the journey. As the carriages are stabled at St Blazey depot during the day, the diagram calls for a lot of wasted e.c.s. mileage -just over 125 miles in fact, from St Blazey to Penzance, Penzance to Truro and then Penzance back to St Blazey at the end of the shift. Fortunately the down train from Bristol (1C02) in the early hours of each morning loads very well, with so many bags being put on at Parkway that the sorters have to work flat out to have them all finished by the time they reach the end of the line five hours or so later.
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