Ferrocarril de Soller Mail Caboose - Soller, Mallorca, Espana
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 39° 45.920 E 002° 42.898
31S E 475586 N 4401751
This caboose was used to carry mail between the town of Soller and Palma, the capital of Mallorca between 1931 and 1991.
Waymark Code: WMJDTZ
Location: Islas Baleares, Spain
Date Posted: 11/05/2013
Views: 22
The Ferrocarril de Sóller is an interurban railway and the name for the company which operates the electrified 914 mm track gauge.
The town of Soller became rich from the many surrounding orange and lemon groves. However transportation to Palma, the capital city and main port was restricted to horse drawn carriages over the tramantunan mountain range.
The railway opened in April 1912 to transport the fruit quicker, but was also a passenger train. The route is 27 kilometres long, has 13 tunnels and several bridges including a 5 arch viaduct.
As early as July 1912 the train had post boxes installed and after proving successful, the train's caboose started to carry a postal worker from 1915. He emptied the post boxes at stations along the route and sorted the mail in the caboose ready for onward distribution to the mainland and nearby islands on arrival at Palma.
By 1931 the volume of mail was such that three trains a day carried mail in dedicated mail cabooses instead of the general freight cars.
they continued to be used until 1991. Although no longer used they continued to be part of the trains to aid stability on the route until 2001.
This caboose was saved and is in Placa D'Espanya just outside the railway station and is used as a tourist information centre.
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