Holiday Mail And Express

John R frequently posts about mail and express trains on his layout and his favorite prototypes. I like them, too. Some of my earlier serious railfan memories involve the Erie Lackawanna in New Jersey, which emphasized mail and express business after the merger. On one hand, I was sorry to see the old Lackawanna gray and maroon passenger trains sullied with dirty mail and express cars, but on the other hand, their grittiness was appealing.

Then my family moved to suburban Washington, DC, and there was even more mail and express on the PRR, not to mention the B&O and RF&P. I keep wanting to add regular mail and express to my layout operation, but so far, other interests have led to procrastination. But here is some equipment pre-positioned for this -- I have a regular switch job at my main passenger terminal that moves mail and express from the freight yard to the passenger platforms:

In earlier years, one of the easiest mail and express cars to model was the Santa Fe Fe-24, which is the prototype for the Athearn bluebox double-door 50-foot boxcar. The narrow panels to the right of the doors were unique to this class. Here are a few I've collected, some factory painted, some slightly modified and done with decals:

These had lots of variations in trucks, details, paint, and lettering. They ran all over the country. In fact, they had a regular assignment carrying Time magazine over the EL and Santa Fe from New York to Los Angeles.