I was surprised the Mina Branch had RPO service since the population density was very thin and the few communities had small populations. I presume the answer was the military ammunition depot in Hawthorne. (A military railroad connected the ammo depot with the SP at Thorne, about 30 miles from the end of the branch.) I can imagine that the military personnel and civilian workers at the depot could at times be substantial, and since many could have been away from their families, that personal mail would be substantial enough to require a postal clerk so the mail was sorted by the time the train returned to Sparks for national distribution.
Interesting idea. Since I haven’t yet built the terminus of the branch line, I still have options. I had planned a winery and a cannery as the two principal rail customers, but maybe I’ll give some thought to a mail generating business. One idea I’ve kicked around is that this being a mountain branch, it is the only rail connection to the outside world and that it could be a postal processor for the region.
Modeling the source of mail for a single RPO car isn’t necessary. The mail can be picked-up/delivered at/to the depot. Park a truck (Gov’t. or contractor-owned) there to suggest how mail comes and goes from/to the mail source. Don’t short change your cannery and winery.
The cannery and winery definitely are not going to be short changed. It’s just a question of available space and what I have room for. Right now, the branch line is still in the conceptual stage. I’ve done a few scribblings on paper but so far nothing too definitive. My railroad is large by home layout standards. The mainline runs around the walls of a rectangular basement. The branchline will run on a center peninsula with a two sided backdrop. The intermediate town will be at one end of the peninsula and will also occupy the highest point on the layout. The name of the town will appropriately be Summit Station. From there, the branch will pass through the two sided backdrop and descend into a resort town in the Catskill Mountains with a name of Willoughby. Fans of the old Twilight Zone series might know the significance of this name. I am hoping that this will be the centerpiece of my layout. It will be the last piece of the puzzle and hopefully my skills will have progressed to the point where this will be a real showcase. I have two craftsman kits that I hope I can do justice to. One is a large Victorian style hotel which I bought at the NMRA convention when it was in Columbu