Owned and restored by the Railway Preservation Group and based at the Great Central Railway Swithland sidings.
There are enthusiasts and there are enthusiasts, and the Railway preservation group are very definitely enthusiasts. Their pride and joy, a British Rail Travelling Posy Office comprising a complete rake of 5 full carriages complete with banks of pigeon holes. Once a vital part of the Postal system these travelling post offices ploughed north south east and west in a constant effort to provide communications in a pre-internet nation.
The last of the Mail train's ran some 15 years ago and although many railway enthusiasts are aware of them, the general public have little or no idea of their existence, mainly because they ran at night. Up to 200 TPOS were involved, each filled with the very best and quickest sorting staff, picking up and dropping off mailbags whist travelling at speed in a constant race against time to get the post to its destination.
Th groups, ably led by chairman Philip Payne, come from all across the nation. Phillip travels most weekends all the way from Kent to strive to preserve this, the last of the breed. Internally the carriages are a time-warp whilst externally the next steps are to treat all of the carriages to new paintwork and transfers. Plans for the future include a mix of main and preserved line running as well as an aspiration to base the TPO in a location where it can educate and inform and properly tell the story of life before the internet.
Such vision and dedication to an important part of the national transport heritage is highly deserving of a restoration award.