What is a Post Office sorting van?

A Post Office sorting van refers to a type of specialised railway vehicle or wagon that was used by the British Post Office (Royal Mail) to sort and process mail while in transit on trains.

These sorting vans had some key features:

• Could be coupled into mail/passenger trains to travel sorting en route
• Allowed sorting and processing to occur during mail transportation
• Improved efficiency by having mail pre-sorted before arriving at destinations

The Post Office used sorting vans attached to mail trains from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century era. Mail clerks and sorters would work inside these special carriages, processing letters and parcels as the trains made their journeys across the country.

As road transportation became more reliable, the need for these railway sorting vans diminished. But they allowed the Post Office to make productive use of the transit time in an era when trains provided the backbone of the mail distribution network in Britain.